Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-03-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] The Friday edition of Athens' dailies

[02] HP-Cosco-Trainose agreement to be signed at noon Monday

[03] BoG: Greece's gold reserves totaled 3.76 million ounces

[04] Hellenic Petroleum reports lower 2012 profits

[01] The Friday edition of Athens' dailies

AVGHI: "Games with the troika over layoffs and minimum salary".

EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON: "They (EU) want layoffs and are mocking us".

ELEFTHEROTYPIA: "Blatant blackmail by Brussels and IMF".

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS: "Public sector in Brussels', IMF's vise".

ESTIA: "The political parties have huge loans".

ETHNOS: "Double message for layoffs in public sector".

IMERISSIA: "Tax bureau and banks online connection".

KATHIMERINI: "Eurozone and IMF insist on layoffs in public sector".

NAFTEMPORIKI: "Deception of business over the arrears owed them by the state".

RIZOSPASTIS: "Exclusive public structures of drug prevention and rehabilitation"

TA NEA: "The 49 wealthiest on Lagarde list and the Financial Crimes Squad's (SDOE) puzzle".

VRADYNI: "How buildings lacking building permits will be legalised".

6 DAYS: "They (government) sell off the universities, too".

[02] HP-Cosco-Trainose agreement to be signed at noon Monday

The agreement coincides with the completion of a rail line linking the port of Piraeus with the country's inter-European railway networks.

Samaras, after being briefed on the deal by representatives of the three companies in mid-November, had hailed the agreement as a "vote of confidence" for Greece in its effort towards economic recovery, stressing that the agreement reasserted the role that the country can plan with its infrastructure in the global business map. amna

The agreement provides for the transport of HP's products via ship by sea from Asia to the Cosco terminal at Piraeus and from there by rail to central and eastern Europe by Trainose trains. The current process of transporting the products from Asia to Europe was costly and time-consuming, and Friday's agreement will enable HP to distribute its produces to central and eastern Europe 10 days earlier than the route followed up to now through other ports in Europe.

The merchandise will be shipped to Piraeus, where it will be loaded on Trainose train wagons, which will convey the shipment through FYROM, Serbia, Hungaria, Austria and the Czech Republic.amna

The agreement initially provides for the transport of 20,000 HP containers annually, simultaneously boosting Trainose profits which are currently estimated at just 24 million euros from container transports.

HP's logistics and transport business is estimated at 50 billion US dollars, of which the largest proportion covers activities in Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Cosco's and HP's selection of the port of Piraeus could increase the local volume by up to 50 percent for the port, while it will also generate a substantial number of jobs given that a large number of companies are expected to follow HP's lead and move their headquarters to Greece or set up offices here.amna

A railway track connecting the Thriassio logistics hub with the Ikonio container terminal near the port of Piraeus was inaugurated on Thursday at Cosco's cargo terminal. The 17km-long cargo line comprising 10 tunnels and 10 bridges constitutes the basis of the trilateral cooperation agreement between Cosco, Hewlett Packard and TRAINOSE. The 143-million-euro project will considerably reduce travel time for cargo vessels originating from Asia and the Mediterranean that had to reach major ports in northern Europe.

The new Thriassio-Ikonio rail link will commence with two routes weekly, while with ongoing improvements, the number routes over time will be increased in accordance with the container movement.amna

The new rail link is expected to upgrade the Thriassio logistics hub, which is currently operating at an initial state and upon completion will concentrate all the rail and container activities of all of Attica.

Gaiose, Trainose's real estate properties development manager, fully owns a 142-acre expanse of land in Thriassio on which it plans to develop container centers.

[03] BoG: Greece's gold reserves totaled 3.76 million ounces

In a report to Parliament, communicated through Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras responding to a question by parliament deputies over the country's gold reserves, the central bank said that Greece's natural gold reserves at the end of 2012 amounted to 3.760 million ounces, worth 4.74 billion euros, of which half were under the custody of the Bank of Greece and the remaining under the custody of the Federal Bank of New York, the Bank of England and Switzerland.

The central bank noted that gold reserves which had been transferred for custody to the Bank of England during the Second World War were repatriated gradually in 1946-1956.

[04] Hellenic Petroleum reports lower 2012 profits

The Group, however, said that comparable results (excluding external factors such as currency rates) were up 70 pct to 232 million euros in 2012, from 137 million in 2011. Exports accounted for more than 50 pct of total sales in December 2012. Hellenic Petroleum said its management will seek shareholders' approval to a plan to pay a 0.15 euros per share dividend to shareholders.amna

Yiannis Kostopoulos, chief executive of the Group, commenting on the results said that "high taxes, accounting for more than 60 pct of final price on fuel, unfair competition and a decline in the market pressured profit margins and fuel distribution companies' liquidity." The distribution and retail sectors in the country were facing a dead-end, he noted, adding that Hellenic Petroleum will focus on ways to fully exploit its upgraded refineries, further spending control, reduce leverage and successfully selling its equity stake in DEPA.

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