Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-07-16

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

CONTENTS

[01] SAE - Scholarships - US

[02] Lafarge completes buyout of Heracles cement maker

[03] Gov't offers permits for renewable energy plants

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

[05] Weather Forecast: Sunshine, high temperatures on Tuesday

[06] Defence minister meets Bosnian Serb counterpart in Athens

[01] SAE - Scholarships - US

CHICAGO (ANA) - The North and South American Chapter of the Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE) on Monday praised the initiative by the Hellenic College of Boston and the 'Leadership 100' organisation for offering scholarships to the Massachusetts institution to students of Greek descent.

?Recognizing the significance of this effort, SAE offers its undivided support and calls on qualifying students to capitalize on this opportunity and also receive a high level of education with Hellenic principles and standards,? said SAE Vice President of North and South America Christos Tomaras in an announcement.

Scholarships are offered in the areas of Classic Studies, Human Development, Religious Studies and Elementary Education (the last mentioned of which is for Greek-American schools only).

[02] Lafarge completes buyout of Heracles cement maker

Lafarge SA, a French multinational, on Monday completed its acquisition of a 54 percent stake in Aget Heracles, a Greek cement maker.

The buyout was due to the acquisition, in turn, of Aget's owner, Blue Circle Industries Plc of the UK, by Lafarge Minerals Limited, a subsidiary of Lafarge SA.

Blue Circle Industries owned 100 percent of Luxembourg-based Blue Circle Investments SA, Aget's 54-percent owner until Monday.

The three companies informed the Athens Stock Exchange, where Aget is quoted, of the acquisition.

[03] Gov't offers permits for renewable energy plants

The government on Monday authorised the issue of a new round of permits for the construction of electricity plants powered by renewable energy that will generate a total of 189.3 megawatts.

Available are 38 licences for wind parks, small hydroelectric stations, biomass units and photovoltaic facilities under the directive signed by Development Minister Nikos Christodoulakis.

Requests for permits are to be submitted to the state's Energy Regulatory Commission by October 15, the ministry said in a statement.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates-Tuesday

Indicative buying rates for Tuesday

U.S. dollar 393.839

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 551.786

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.407

Swedish kroner 36.698

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 314.577

Swiss franc 223.340

Norwegian kroner 042.372

Cyprus pound 588.565

Canadian dollar 255.895

Australian dollar 200.842

[05] Weather Forecast: Sunshine, high temperatures on Tuesday

Hot, sunny weather is forecast throughout the country on Tuesday, with scattered cloud on the northern mainland from late afternoon that may turn to isolated storms in Epirus and Macedonia. Winds variable, light to moderate, turning strong in parts of the Aegean. In the Ionian, temperatures will range from 24C to 38C; on the mainland from 21C to 39C; and in the Aegean islands from 25C to 36C. Sunshine in Athens with temperatures between 26C and 40C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 24C to 38C.

[06] Defence minister meets Bosnian Serb counterpart in Athens

The situation in the Balkans and prospects for bilateral cooperation in the defence sector were discussed in Athens on Monday by Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and his visiting Bosnian Serb counterpart Slobodan Bilic.

Responding to questions after the meeting, Bilic said the Serb Republic of Bosnia was currently making preparations to cooperate with the International Court of Justice at The Hague, in the context of international law, for the extradition of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, who are both accused of war crimes during the Bosnia-Herzegovina war.

He said the process in question did not concern only Karadzic and Mladic, while he pointed out that their whereabouts were not known to the Bosnian Serb defence ministry, which was in no way involved with their safety or security.

Tsohatzopoulos reiterated Greek positions against changes to borders in the Balkans and the use of force to solve problems in the Balkan region.

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