Athens News Agency: News in English, 10-07-27

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] PM Papandreou on official visit to Bulgaria

[02] Airport situation normalising

[03] Strong rise at ASE opening

[01] PM Papandreou on official visit to Bulgaria

Papandreou is scheduled to meet with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov immediately after his arrival in Sofia, after which the two premiers will preside over the inaugural meeting of the Greece-Bulgaria High Level Cooperation Council

The joint meeting of Greek and Bulgarian government officials is expected to be crucial for the future of the stalled Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the two prime ministers will sign a joint declaration, while bilateral agreements will also be signed by ministers of the two countries.

On Tuesday afternoon, Papandreou will be received by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

[02] Airport situation normalising

According to data from Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (AIA), flights were being conducted normally on Tuesday, with only minor delays which, however, are unrelated to a "work to rule" action by protesting air traffic controllers launched on Sunday.

The situation began to normalise gradually since Monday afternoon after a meeting between air traffic controllers and infrastructure, transport and networks deputy minister Nikos Sifounakis.

During the meeting, the two sides appeared to iron out some of their differences on a bill being advanced by the ministry for the reorganisation of the Civil Aviation Authority and reassurances by the ministry on the sector's financial and administrative independence.

The two sides will meet again on Tuesday in the context of the deliberation on the draft law.

After the meeting, air traffic controllers also called off a 24-hour strike scheduled for Saturday.

[03] Strong rise at ASE opening

Individual sector indices were moving upward nearly across the board, with the only losses in Insurance, down 1.50 percent; amd Telecoms, down 0.16 percent.

The biggest gains were in Banks, up 4.33 percent; and Financial Services, up 3.95 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks was up 2.73 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index was up 1.59 percent, and the FTSE/ASE-80 small cap index was up 1.04 percent.

Of the stocks traded, 73 were up, 20 were down, and 19 were unchanged.

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