Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-02-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] NATO to assist on refugee crisis, orders warships to Aegean

[02] Minister cites risk of border closure, slams EU for delaying funds for refugee crisis

[03] Greek stocks extend decline for eighth successive session‏

[04] Athens' real estate prospects seen tumbling in 2016, PwC report states

[01] NATO to assist on refugee crisis, orders warships to Aegean

The Commission expressed a hope that NATO's involvement will assist in the rescue of people and boost border control, Schinas said.

"The 10 kilometres that now separate the Turkish coast from the Greek islands cannot be a paradise for traffickers," he said, adding that NATO would decide the technical details of the naval operation in the Aegean.

The European border agency Frontex will have a specific mission of cooperation with the NATO naval force in the Aegean, Schinas explained, and the details of this mission will be decided by those that are in charge of the operation and not by the Commission.

He ended by saying that this was a "very early" form of the European border and coast guard, which will have a broader and more flexible mandate than Frontex has at present.

[02] Minister cites risk of border closure, slams EU for delaying funds for refugee crisis

"We share a border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM), which is not in the Schengen zone. There is an issue there and for this we are preparing in two ways. First we must be meet our obligations and secondly, based on the studies we have carried out, we must be able to handle the problem in the case that tens of thousands of refugees and migrants are unable to leave," he said.

The minister estimated that the cost of the refugee crisis for Greece exceeded one billion euros, higher than the Bank of Greece estimate of 600 million euros, while he strongly criticised the EU and its bureaucracy for the failure, until now, to disburse Community funds earmarked for tackling the refugee crisis.

He also assured MPs that the Greek government was ready to battle proposals that were unacceptable.

"We have submitted new applications. The bureaucracy, unfortunately, is not only very great in Greece but also in the EU. We are pressing hard in the direction of quick disbursement," he said.

[03] Greek stocks extend decline for eighth successive session‏

The composite index ended 1.89 pct lower at 440.88 points, after falling as low as 420.82 points (-6.35 pct) early in the session. The index extended its decline for the eighth successive session, during which it has lost 20.87 pct of its value, standing 30.17 pct down so far this year. The Bank index fell 4.85 pct, after falling as much as 20.91 pct during the day. The index has lost 48.74 pct in the last eight sessions.

The Large Cap index fell 2.51 pct and the Mid Cap index ended 1.92 pct lower. Turnover was a low 73.046 million euros in volume of 273,277,413.

Viohalco (4.78 pct), Athens Water (4.23 pct) and Hellenic Exchanges (2.70 pct) scored the biggest percentage gains of the day among blue chip stocks, while Eurobank (12.24 pct), Piraeus Bank (10 pct) and Titan (6.88 pct) suffered heavy losses.

National Bank and Piraeus Bank were the most heavily traded securities of the day. Among market sectors, Financial Services (2.02 pct), Utilities (1.89 pct) and Raw Materials (0.75 pct) scored big gains, while Construction (5.31 pct), Banks (4.85 pct) and Health (4.65 pct) suffered losses.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 81 to 31 with another 20 issues unchanged. Nafpaktos Spin Mills (29.52 pct), Athina (20 pct) and Vioter (18 pct) were top gainers, while Akritas (20 pct), Sfakianakis (19.95 pct) and Hellenic Sugar (17.72 pct) were top losers.

[04] Athens' real estate prospects seen tumbling in 2016, PwC report states

These ground-level disruptions are permeating through the entire real estate value chain. Investors are focused on cities and assets rather than countries.

They also favour alternative, more operational assets for accessing outperformance, with 41 percent of respondents against 28 percent last year considering taking the plunge into alternatives. Healthcare, hotels, student accommodation and data centres are all expected to shine as sectors benefiting from urbanisation and longterm demographic trends.

Many interviewees fear that the crisis is far from over, as far as Greece is concerned:

"Greece would still be hitting the headlines if it wasn't for immigration and Syria and everything else," says one. There is also more pain ahead for the Greek economy. The austerity programme that Greece agreed with its creditors will shrink the economy at the same time as taxes are increasing in an attempt to balance the books. Consumer spending will suffer. Business confidence is at rock bottom. Foreign property investors might find bargains, and "there is still a handful of investors looking at Greece although not with the same intensity as 12 months ago". "By the end of 2016, Greece could become interesting," says one fund manager.

However, only forced sellers are likely to dispose of assets in a market in which values have fallen by 60-85 percent depending on asset type since 2007, according to one local. Meanwhile, the imposition of capital controls means that investors will find it difficult to get their money out of the country. "What is happening here is extreme," says a Greek interviewee. "The collapse is so big and has lasted so long that it has totally disorganised the property sector."

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