Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 98-08-06

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

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 06/08/1998 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Man dies in Pendeli fire, planes arrive from Italy, France
• Gov't plans to finance massive project for reforestation
• Greek-Albanian cooperation protocol on sea border patrols
• Kranidiotis says Cyprus has right to its defence
• US-Greek consortium buys Bulgarian bank in tender
• Greek stocks slump in wake of declining markets abroad
• Domestic commercial firms show stagnant profits in 1997
• AIDS rise in Greece not explosive, official says
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

A Pendeli resident died from severe burns today while trying to save his home from flames that had engulfed it as strong winds rekindled a fire blazing on Mt. Pendeli since Sunday.

The flames have already spread to the outskirts of the northeastern Attica town of Palea Pendeli, threatening homes, while a children's hospital was evacuated.

A fire brigade official told the ANA that the Pendeli fronts were clearly the work of arsonists, as locals and colleagues had heard explosions and flames appeared immediately after at spots where there was no risk of fire.

Meanwhile, firefighting planes had arrived from Italy and France to help combat the blaze.

The four fronts burning on Mt. Pendeli had surrounded the towns of Palea Pendeli and Nea Pendeli, while the smoke in the area was asphyxiating.

The fronts were located at Palea Pendeli's central square, near the Observatory, close to the 414 military hospital, and in the vicinity of the PIKPA children's hospital, which was evacuated early today.

The monks from Pendeli Monastery were also evacuated when flames reached dangerously close.

Six elderly town residents, meanwhile, have been taken by ambulance to hospitals with acute respiratory problems.

Gov't plans to finance massive project for reforestation

Agriculture minister Stephanos Tzoumakas said yesterday his ministry would finance a massive project for reforestation of the hundreds of thousands of acres of forestland denuded by raging fires the past week.

Mr. Tzoumakas said after a 90-minute meeting with prime minister Costas Simitis that financing the reforestation fell under the jurisdiction of the Agriculture ministry, adding that the first step would be to secure the denuded expanses with mesh to con tain land erosion.

Expanses that had burned for a second time would undergo artificial reforestation, while land burnt for the first time would be reforested naturally.

Forestry service officials told the ANA an estimated 800,000 stremma (80, 000 hectares) of forest and bush had burned since the latest wave of forest fires broke out Sunday.

The figure is expected to go up, however, as a number of fire fronts were still blazing and several others that had been contained were rekindled, fanned by strong winds.

Greek-Albanian cooperation protocol on sea border patrols

Greek-Albanian cooperation protocol providing for joint patrols along the common sea border of the two countries aimed at more effectively policing the region goes into effect on Monday.

A special ceremony will be held at Corfu harbour to mark commencement of the cooperation on Monday, to be attended by Merchant Marine Minister Stavros Soumakis and Albanian Interior Minister Neritan Ceka.

The cooperation aims at combatting illegal immigration, drug trafficking and unlawful fishing.

Kranidiotis says Cyprus has right to its defence

Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiotis said yesterday that Cyprus has a right to its defence and selection of its armament systems.

Mr. Kranidiotis told the Cyprus Radio CyBC that decisions and handling of the issue belong with the Cypriot government and that Greece is assisting it and standing by it in its struggle.

"My visit in Cyprus is private, but I will naturally meet with the Cypriot political leadership, within the framework of the frequent contacts between Greece and Cyprus, and within that same framework I will exchange views with the Cypriot administratio n regarding the recent developments on the Cyprus issue and future projections.

"Focusing on the S-300 defence missiles is disorientating regarding the essence of the Cyprus issue and in any case it functions unproductively toward the solution of the problem," Mr. Kranidiotis said.

"The issues must be correctly placed in order of priority and we should not focus on the tree and miss the forest. The essence consists in the continued Turkish invasion and occupation, the intransigence of the Turkish side and its refusal to start a d ialogue for the solution of the Cyprus issue on the basis of the UN resolutions, its refusal to participate in talks for the accession of Cyprus in the EU, its refusal to discuss armament containment and demilitarisation on Cyprus, its refusal to abide by the commands of the international community. This is the message we are sending to other countries and our European partners, asking them to exert their influence on theTurkish side", Mr. Kranidiotis said.

"We must not fall victims to the 'missile talk' and TurkeyYs effort to disorient the issue," the deputy minister concluded.

US-Greek consortium buys Bulgarian bank in tender

American Life Insurance Company (Alico) and Consolidated Eurofinance Holdings SA, a member of the Latsis Group, yesterday won an international tender for the privatisation of Bulgaria's state Post Bank.

The two firms, which bid jointly in the tender, will acquire 78.23 percent of Post Bank for 38 million US dollars, taking an equal stake. They are to invest 20 million dollars in the bank in the coming year.

A contract will be signed in nine days whose provisions include a ban on the new buyers from selling their stock for seven years. Ten percent of profits have to be given to the Bulgarian state for five years.

Announcing the sale, Bulgaria's finance minister told reporters that the price offered by the consortium for Post Bank, which has 111 branches, was the main criterion in selection of the winner; and that National Bank of Greece had bid substantially lower.

Greek stocks slump in wake of declining markets abroad

Greek equities dropped sharply in thin trade for a third consecutive session yesterday in a fresh fall apparently triggered by declining markets abroad.

The Athens general share index finished 3.27 percent down at 2,692.77 points. Turnover slipped to 48 billion drachmas from 42.9 billion in the previous session.

Sector indices mostly finished lower. The heavily weighted banking sector plunged 4.20 percent, Leasing nosedived 5.63 percent, Insurance slid 1.65 percent, Investment slumped 2.98 percent, Industrials shed 2.22 percent up, Construction sank 4.55 percen t, Holding dropped 3.58 percent, and Miscellaneous dived 4.40 percent.

The parallel market index for small cap companies finished 2.39 percent lower.

Of 253 stocks traded, declines led advances at 213 to 31 with 9 shares remaining unchanged.

Domestic commercial firms show stagnant profits in 1997

Domestic commer patients helping them to get up from their beds, prolonging their life and giving them hope for final victory over death.

Mr. Kotsonis said that worldwide, 33 million people have been infected by AIDS, of whom 1.5 million are children and 42% women.

There are 1,766 registered AIDS cases in Greece.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(L.G.)

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