Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-01-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] Balkans, fight against organised crime dominate Simitis-Meta talks

[02] Patriarch Vartholomeos comments on Pope's 'Prayer for Peace Day'

[03] Olympics sailing centre gets OK from sports federation

[04] Gov't plans to raise tax break for returns sent via internet

[05] Financial crimes squad suspects corruption in ETBA Finance

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Saturday

[08] Greek stocks fall on profit taking

[01] Balkans, fight against organised crime dominate Simitis-Meta talks

Balkan developments, cooperation against organised crime as well as Tiranas effort to approach European institutions dominated talks here on Friday between Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his visiting Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta.

?Weve had discussions with Albania over how to apply the Greek plan for Balkan restructuring ... There are specific programmes underway,? Simitis told reporters after talks with Meta.

Issues related to the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania were also discussed by the two men, as the matter has long ranked as a top priority for Athens.

In responding to a relevant question, the Greek premier cited what he called progress in the exercise of minority members rights, especially after the abolition of so-called minority zones in the neighbouring country.

On his part, Meta referred at length to the energy problem his small country faces, as numerous power outages from insufficient water reserves in Albanias hydroelectric dams have hampered production of late. Greece recently supplied its northwest neighbour with 100 megawatts in electricity to help alleviate the shortage.

In terms of inter-state law enforcement cooperation, another top priority for Balkan governments, Simitis said Athens wants this bilateral cooperation intensified, especially with stepped up border controls.

Meeting with Karamanlis

Earlier, Meta met with main opposition New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis, whom he invited to visit the neighbouring country.

Afterwards, Karamanlis called his talks with Albanias premier useful, saying bilateral relations, business activity by Greek firms in Albania as well as cooperation to combat organised crime and regional stability dominated the meeting's agenda.

Finally, the ND leader reiterated Greeces sensitivity regarding the ethnic Greek minority in southern Albania, while noting that good relations between Athens and Tirana necessitate satisfactory living conditions and respect for the rights of the Greek Orthodox faithful in Albania.

[02] Patriarch Vartholomeos comments on Pope's 'Prayer for Peace Day'

ROME (ANA - L. Hatzikyriakos) Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Christian Churches, on Friday underlined the importance of a day of prayer and peace called by Pope John Paul II the previous day.

The pontiff had gathered together 200 leaders from a dozen religions in the Italian town of Assisi on Thursday, including Patriarch Vartholomeos, to underline that religion could not and should not be a reason for conflict and violence.

"I saw it as a continuation of my own initiative in Brussels," Vartholomeos told reporters, "in the context of a wider initiative taken by many sides to show that religion unites and does not divide, that religion cannot be recruited to justify violence and terrorism."

He stressed that there had been many initiatives for dialogue between religions, such as his own trip to Iran at the invitation of the country's culture minister, or the meeting being prepared in Istanbul on February 12-13 between the European Union and organisation in Islamic nations.

"All these initiatives seek to show that religion is a uniting factor, that religions and cultures should work together," he said.

Regarding dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, the Patriarch said that both the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Vatican wanted this to continue and for the remaining obstacles to be overcome.

He noted that dialogue had progressed initially but stopped after 1990, after the revival of the Uniate Church in the former Communist countries, which had been accused of trying to proselytise Orthodox faithful in these countries. The Orthodox faithful believed these obstacles could be overcome, the Patriarch added.

[03] Olympics sailing centre gets OK from sports federation

Construction work on a sailing centre in Aghios Kosmas near Athens for the 2004 Olympics has gained endorsement from a delegation of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) following a visit to the site, the Athens organising committee for the Games said on Friday.

The ISAF's general secretary, Arve Sundheim, and its technical director, Jerom Pels, saw that work on the project was on target, and that requirements for accompanying facilities were being met, the committee said in a statement.

[04] Gov't plans to raise tax break for returns sent via internet

The government is planning to increase tax relief it has offered for returns submitted via the internet, finance ministry sources said on Friday.

The tax break is currently at 2.5 percent of tax payable, up to 25,000 drachmas.

[05] Financial crimes squad suspects corruption in ETBA Finance

The government's financial crimes squad has called on a public prosecutor to assist its investigation into suspected corruption in ETBA Finance, a subsidiary of ETBAbank, authorities said on Friday.

Indications of illegal placements of funds by ETBA Finance came to light over the past year during controls by the bank's management ahead of privatisation, which were then investigated by the squad, the government department said in a statement.

The result brought losses to the bank and to the state, the statement said.

Also informed on Friday of the financial squad's findings were the finance ministry, ETBAbank's governor, George Kasmas, the Bank of Greece, or central bank, and the capital market commission.

Immediately suspended by Kasmas were ETBA Finance's managing director, the firm's director, and the supervisers of the accounting and financial services departments.

The financial crimes squad will give the prosecutor a report on its findings on completion of the enquiry, which was ordered by the finance ministry.

[06] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro until Monday

U.S. dollar 0.873

Pound sterling 0.617

Danish kroner 7.488

Swedish kroner 9.320

Japanese yen 117.28

Swiss franc 1.483

Norwegian kroner 7.919

Cyprus pound 0.580

Canadian dollar 1.404

Australian dollar 1.693

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Saturday

Showers and isolated storms are forecast in the Peloponnese, eastern Evia, Crete, Cyclades, Dodecanese and eastern Aegean islands, easing off during the day. In the northern Ionian, Epirus and western mainland, the weather will be mostly fair. The rest of the country will see light cloud with the possibility of showers mainly in the morning. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 3C to 11C; in the Ionian and on the rest of the mainland from 6C to 16C; and in the Aegean islands from 10C to 15C. Cloud and possibly rain in Athens, with temperatures between 7C and 15C. Scattered cloud in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 6C to 10C.

[08] Greek stocks fall on profit taking

Equity prices ended the last trading session of the week slightly lower hit by mild profit taking pressure, as investors preferred to take early profits after a two-day advance in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The general index ended 0.12 percent lower at 2,617.87 points, with turnover a moderate Dr 47.4 billion, or 139.1 million euros.

The IT Solutions, Publishing and Investment sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.07 percent, 0.79 percent and 0.77 percent, respectively), while the Retail, IT and Insurance sectors scored the biggest gains (2.01 percent, 0.56 percent and 0.16 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.22 percent lower, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 0.17 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index fell 0.15 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 169 to 127 with another 66 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the week with a net gain of 2.2 percent.

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