Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-10-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[02] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Wednesday

[03] Greek PM announces new gov't following reshuffle

[04] Greek stocks end off-highs on ASE

[05] EU presidency expresses regret over T/C side's stance

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Indicative tourist buying rates until Wednesday

U.S. dollar 380.343

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 540.144

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 045.456

Swedish kroner 035.549

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.026

Swiss franc 228.537

Norwegian kroner 042.524

Cyprus pound 588.636

Canadian dollar 241.307

Australian dollar 193.487

[02] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Wednesday

Sunny in most parts of Greece on Wednesday, with the likelihood of local showers in the northwest. Winds northerly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 9C to 21C; on the rest of the mainland from 13C to 24C; and in the islands from 17C to 25C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 16C and 24C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 14C to 21C.

[03] Greek PM announces new gov't following reshuffle

Prime Minister Costas Simitis unveiled his new Cabinet on Tuesday following a widely expected government reshuffle, with many high-ranking PASOK cadres remaining in the government, albeit in charge of other portfolios.

Nikos Christodoulos, previously development minister, was picked to lead the upgraded national economy and finance ministry after Yiannos Papantoniou was shifted to the national defence ministry.

Papantoniou takes over from Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who tapped for the development ministry.

Simitis also changed the ministries' rank of order, viewed as a step towards more closely adapting the Greek government model to European Union developments.

Another high-profile change came at the interior, public administration and decentralisation ministry, where outgoing ruling PASOK Secretary Costas Skandalidis takes over from Vasso Papandreou.

On her part, Papandreou was shifted to the environment, town planning and public works ministry, held down by Costas Laliotis -- PASOK's new party secretary -- since late 1993.

Conversely, Foreign Minister George Papandreou remains at the foreign ministry, as does Mihalis Chrysohoidis at the public order ministry; Petros Efthymiou at the education ministry; Christos Verelis at the transport ministry; Evangelos Venizelos at the culture ministry; George Paschalidis at the Macedonia-Thrace ministry; Alekos Papadopoulos at the health ministry and Nikos Sifounakis at the Aegean ministry.

In other changes, Dimitris Reppas moves from the mass media and press ministry to the labour and social insurances ministry. His replacement at the high-profile ministry will be Christos Protopapas, until recently the deputy minister of labour. Former labour minister Tassos Yiannitsis moves to the foreign ministry as the alternate to George Papandreou.

George Drys got a promotion, leaving the finance ministry to head the agriculture ministry as its new minister. The same holds true for Philippos Petsalnikos, who leaves the post of deputy education minister to assume the justice portfolio, while George Anomeritis took over at the merchant marine ministry.

[04] Greek stocks end off-highs on ASE

Equity prices ended Tuesday's session off their day's highs on the Athens Stock Exchange with market sentiment positively affected by a rally of prices in international markets.

Sentiment, however, turned sour temporarily one hour from the close when institutional investors took profits after news of a new government formation. This reaction limited gains and led the general index to end at 2,405.22 points, up 0.91 percent. The index was 1.40 percent higher in midday trading.

Turnover was an improved 58.8 billion drachmas, or 172.6 million euros.

The Investment, Insurance and Telecommunications sector scored the biggest percentage gains (2.76%, 1.87% and 1.44% respectively) with only the parallel index for smaller capitalisation stocks ending with a loss of 0.02 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.81 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.55 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.79 percent up.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 218 to 116 with another 28 issues unchanged.

[05] EU presidency expresses regret over T/C side's stance

BRUSSELS (ANA) The European Union's presidency on Tuesday reiterated its regret over the Turkish Cypriot's side refusal to participate in United Nations-sponsored proximity talks towards a solution to the island republic long-standing problem before Cyprus accedes to the 15-nation bloc.

In a declaration unveiled on Tuesday on behalf of the entire Union, the Belgian presidency states:

"The European Union supports the statement by the President of the United Nations Security Council on 26 September 2001, in particular the disappointment expressed at the refusal of the Turkish side to take part in the meeting on 12 September.

"It (EU) continues to back unreservedly the efforts of the United Nations Secretary-General to resume -- without preconditions in line with Security Council resolution 1250 -- the search for a comprehensive and lasting settlement in conformity with the relevant Security Council resolutions, and calls on all parties involved to cooperate in the process with a view to achieving a political settlement before the end of the negotiations for Cyprus' accession to the European Union."

Cyprus has been divided since a 1974 invasion by Turkish troops, who continue to occupy roughly 37 percent of the island republic to this day.

On the other hand, the portion of the island controlled by the internationally recognised Cyprus government is among the leading contenders for the EU's next round of accession.

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