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Athens News Agency: News in English (AM), 99-09-24Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>NEWS IN ENGLISHAthens, Greece, 24/09/1999 (ANA)MAIN HEADLINES
NEWS IN DETAILG. Papandreou cites US resolve for progress over Cyprus issueIt is clear that the United States is determined to push for progress in resolving the Cyprus issue, Greece's Foreign Minister George Papandreou said after an hour-long meeting yesterday with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in New York. "The US is showing the utmost resolve to do all it can for a substantive dialogue to commence between the two communities," he told reporters. Mr. Papandreou said his previous contacts with all other US officials, including US President Bill Clinton, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in the last few days, confirmed this outlook. He added that his discussion with Ms Albright had been very useful, as it also touched upon the set of priorities to which it would be useful for Washington to contribute, in view of Mr. Clinton's trip to the region later this autumn. "These are priorities related to the promotion of Greek-Turkish relations on the basis of international law and existing treaties, and the solution of the Cyprus issue...We, of course, discussed regional cooperation, the issues of the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus," he said, adding that discussion with his US counterpart also included Turkey's relations with the European Union in general. "This is something which concerns us directly, in view of the Helsinki EU summit," he said. Responding to a question regarding terrorism, Mr. Papandreou said there was a review of cooperation in this field. Monetary authorities probed over bourse statements A public prosecutor yesterday called senior monetary officials, including the central bank governor, to give evidence in a preliminary enquiry into claims of share manipulation and insider trading on the Athens Stock Exchange. Giving evidence to prosecutor Dimitris Asproyerakas of the Athens Court of First Instance were Bank of Greece governor Lucas Papademos, bourse chairman Spyros Kouniakis and capital market commission chairman Stavros Thomadakis. The enquiry took a fresh turn on Wednesday when the prosecutor turned to recent statements by monetary authorities that some media alleged could steer investors away from a certain category of stocks and towards another. Mr. Asproyerakas is investigating the reasons given by the officials for making the statements that some media have challenged. He is also looking for any evidence of collusion involving banks, the stock exchange's board and other monetary officials that could have worked to bring down the general index, judicial sources said. The prosecutor is to call other officials to give evidence, the sources said. The enquiry follows a spectacular rise on the bourse this year that gained even greater recent momentum. The market slumped this week in what many analysts have called a normal downward correction, but some media claim the decline was fuelled by the statements. The stock exchange is currently introducing measures aimed at boosting transparency. Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas later declined to comment on whether charges may be brought against Mr. Papademos for the statements he made on the bourse. He said that he did not wish to comment during judicial proceedings. Democratic Social Movement leader Dimitris Tsovolas said that statements on the market by Mr. Papademos, National Economy and Finance Minister Yannos Papantoniou and state-run Nati onal Bank of Greece governor Theodoros Karatzas were "unorthodox and impermissible" Stocks in the doldrums Equities shed nearly 4.0 percent yesterday apparently depressed by political ructions linked to the Athens Stock Exchange's abrupt rise this year and accompanying allegations of stock manipulation. The general index ended 3.90 percent lower at 5,818.37 points from 6,054.76 points in the previous session. Turnover was 406.410 billion drachmas from 465.9 billion a day earlier on 38,492,000 shares traded. Some brokers had attributed adverse sentiment earlier this week to tighter transparency rules being introduced at the bourse. At the same time, the market was ripe for a correction due to a recent jump that outpaced the ascent throughout the rest of the year, analysts said. The sell-off yesterday was dominated by retail investors either raking in their profits on fears of a further decline in prices, or deliberately dumping stock in order to buy again if prices drop further. Sector indices ended as follows: Banking (-4.08 pct), Construction (-7.06 pct), Insurance (-5.45 pct), Miscellaneous (-1.08 pct), Leasing (-6.72 pct), Investment (-0.84 pct), Industrials (-4.99 pct) and Holding (+0.97 pct). The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks plunged 7.19 percent while the FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks eased 3.65 percent to finish at 3,024.24 points. Of 306 stocks traded, declines outpaced advances at 273 to 32 with one share remaining unchanged. A total of nine shares ended at the daily 8.0 percent upper volatility limit and another 134 ended at the daily limit down, also 8.0 percent. Bourse names companies for supervision The Athens Stock Exchange yesterday named five companies that will inaugurate a category of suspect stocks to be supervised and placed under different trading rules. The companies are Athinea, Viosol, Hellenic Textiles, Emborikos Desmos and Klaoudatos. Already under supervision are Daring, Macedonian Spinning Mills and Technodomi. The new group of five firms were placed on the list because they were loss- making in 1997 and 1998, and in the first half of 1999, bourse officials said. The price of stocks in the category will be set at regular intervals during trade by setting an average of bid and offer orders received, in line with pre-trading practice. The normal method is real-time price formation. Bourse chairman Spyros Kounia kis said that no other firms were being considered for entry into the category. Hellenic Textiles protested the decision to include it in the category of stocks under supervision. The company said in a statement yesterday that the Athens bourse had ignored efforts by management to turn around finances, which it accomplished in the first half of this year after purchase by the Akkas family of stock owned by Royal Ten Cate of the Netherlands. The statement said that sales in the first half totalled 9.7 billion drachmas, up 21.6 percent on the same period of 1998. First-half profits before depreciation were 200 million drachmas, with the total forecast at 450 million drachmas at the end of the year. Panafon eyes Albanian mobile phone operator Panafon, a mobile telephone operator, said yesterday that it was planning to bid for a majority stake in the Albanian Mobile Communications Organisation, which is slated for privatisation. The Greek firm said in a statement that it would ally with its main shareholder, Vodaphone AirTouch Plc of the UK, to lead a bidding consortium. National Bank, Lambrakis forge alliance National Bank of Greece, a blue chip on the Athens bourse, is to buy a 15 percent stake in two subsidiaries of the Lambrakis Journalism Organisation. Under the arrrangement with Action Plan and Winged Hermes, the firms will develop specialised services lined to telephone business and mass distribution. Ceiling set for bank compensation A ceiling of 6.6 million drachmas (20,000 euros) has been set for damages to be awarded to depositors when a bank cannot meet its financial commitments, deputy Bank of Greece governor Nikos Garganas said yesterday. The guarantor of deposits is the Deposits Guarantee Fund, which is also responsible for maintaining stability in the banking sector overall. Papandreou-Annan discuss Cyprus issue Foreign Minister George Papandreou discussed the Cyprus issue at length with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday, shortly before addressing the UN General Assembly. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Mr. Papandreou said the Cyprus issue "is at an important phase when it is possible that Mr. Annan will be sending invitations soon to the two sides, the two communities, for a start to negotiations." "I had the opportunity, therefore, to talk about the Cyprus issue with him, as well as recent developments in Greek-Turkish relations and, of course, after the international community expressed itself through the G-8 on a new initiative, to encourage him to go ahead, to take this initiative, so that the effort for pacification and solving the Cyprus issue might become unblocked," he said. Asked which moves Mr. Annan is expecting to send the invitations, Mr. Papandreou said "I have the impression that he will wait for (Turkish Prime Minister Bulent) Ecevit's visit to the US, the meeting with Mr. Clinton to see the result and send the invitation afterwards." Tsohatzopoulos discusses bilateral, Balkan issues with Cohen National Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos yesterday held talks with his US counterpart William Cohen and the US president's security adviser Sandy Berger in Washington, with talks centring on bilateral relations as well as a wide range of issues in the Balkans and Middle East. The Greek minister later described the discussions as useful for both sides. "They contributed to the smoothing out of certain pending details in our bilateral issues. Greece's role in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterraneran is confirmed through the significant initiatives which our country is undertaking in relevant issues...With Mr. Cohen we discussed new ways of cooperation for stability in the Balkans and the Middle East...We also discussed bilateral issues, issues of military cooperation, but also the process of modernisation of NATO forces in all member-states," he told reporters afterwards. "With Mr. Berger, as with Mr. Cohen, we discussed the situation in our broader region after the last crisis in Kosovo. I drew attention to the weaknesses existing at present, both in terms of the formation of a police force by the UN that will guard the borders and ensure internal security, and as regards the further strengthening of KFOR, for it to be able to implement the UN mandate and safeguard human rights for all ethnic groups," he added. Athens dismisses State Dept. report's claims on minority issues Greece yesterday flatly rejected claims found in a US State Department report citing 'suppression' of certain religious freedoms of the Moslem minority in Thrace. "These accusations do not hold up," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said. "Greek Moslems have the same rights as the rest of us...the conditions under which Greek Moslems live are an example for minorities in other countries," he added. Responding to a question about the transfer of competency for Moslem minority issues from the foreign ministry to the interior ministry, Mr. Reppas said issues related to the Moslem minority were issues related to Greek citizens. "It is an internal issue for the country and not a matter for foreign policy," he said. In an unrelated development, he noted that there is a need for the construction of a mosque in Athens and said he believed that the Autoceplalus Orthodox Church of Greece's opinion on the matter would also be positive. Stability Pact coordinator satisfied with Thessaloniki HQ site The special coordinator of the Stability Pact for SE Europe, Bondo Hombach, yesterday expressed satisfaction with the technical infrastructure that the Greek government has offered in Thessaloniki to the agency's services. He made the statements before the external affairs committee of the European Parliament in Brussels. Mr. Hombach described the infrastructure as invaluable and stressed that the Pact would use as a basic axis of its activities the seat of the EU's reconstruction agency in the northern port city. Replying to questions by Greek Euro-MPs Petros Efthymiou and Michalis Souladakis, Mr. Hombach said there had to be full respect for the rights of minorities in the Balkans, but on condition of the inviolability of borders. He added that Balkan countries ought to abandon policies of conflict and that the Stability Pact programmes aimed to restrict this phenomenon. Mr. Souladakis urged Mr. Hombach to tackle the problem of a large number of Greek firms which have signed contracts with countries in the region, particularly Yugoslavia, and are facing difficulties due to the fact that these contracts have become inoperative. Ugandan president in Athens next week The president of the Republic of Uganda, Yoweri Keguta Museveni, will begin an official visit to Greece at the invitation of President Kostis Stephanopoulos on Sept. 29. Mr. Museveni's visit will last through to Oct. 1. Hatzipateras funeral in London today The funeral of John Hatzipateras, the long-time president of the London- based Greek Committee for Shipping Cooperation for the last 16 years, will take place in the British capital at noon today. Hatzipateras died in Athens last week. Merchant Marine Minister Stavros Soumakis arrived in London yesterday to represent the government at the service. According to reports, shipowner Epaminondas Empeirikos will succeed Hatzipateras as Committee president. WEATHERMostly fair weather will prevail throughout Greece on Friday. Winds will be northerly, light to moderate, turning strong in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Fair in Athens and Thessaloniki.FOREIGN EXCHANGEFriday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 310.744 Pound sterling 507.745 Japanese yen (100) 298.671 French franc 49.490 German mark 165.981 Italian lira (100) 16.766 Irish Punt 412.198 Belgian franc 8.047 Finnish mark 54.599 Dutch guilder 147.312 Danish kr. 43.694 Austrian sch. 23.592 Spanish peseta 1.951 Swedish kr. 37.706 Norwegian kr. 39.650 Swiss franc 202.442 Port. Escudo 1.619 Can. dollar 211.098 Aus. dollar 201.192 Cyprus pound 561.988 Euro 324.632(L.G.) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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