Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-03-13

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] PM: Cyprus impasse will seriously impede Turkey's EU prospects

[02] Gov't names SAIC consortium as final winner of 2004 security contract

[03] ATHOC cites increased demand for tickets

[04] EU-NATO security agreement to be signed on Friday

[05] FIFA vice president inspects work at soccer stadium in view of 2004

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Friday

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[08] Weather Forecast: Scattered c loud on Friday

[09] Greek stocks jump 1.93 percent on Thursday

[01] PM: Cyprus impasse will seriously impede Turkey's EU prospects

The collapse of the latest effort for a solution to the Cyprus problem would have serious repercussions for Turkey's EU course, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis stressed on Thursday, telling his cabinet that ''without a solution, there are no European prospects for Turkey.''

Reporting on Thursday's cabinet meeting, government spokesman Christos Protopapas said that the premier had dwelt at length on the ultimately fruitless initiative by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to find a formula to reunite the island.

''This concerted intervention, which was perhaps the most important of all that have been presented in many years, unfortunately did not yield results. The responsibility for this has been attributed to the obstructive policy of the Turkish-Cypriot side, which caused the impasse assisted by Iraq-occupied Ankara,'' Simitis said.

The premier also noted that the Turkish side had shown no willingness to shift its fixed positions and that the repercussions of this were already evident ''in the reactions of the European Commission and the foreign ministries of third countries,'' while it would not in any way affect Cyprus EU accession.

''Greece and Cyprus have been convincing throughout the negotiations and confirmed the rightness of our choices,'' he added.

At the same time, he said that the prospect of accession still left open the possibility of gathering momentum for a Cyprus solution.

''If (Turkish-Cypriot) leader Rauf Denktash and certain people in Ankara think that they can legalise the fait accompli of invasion they are mistaken. Time works in favour of justice and a solution, a fact confirmed by the events in the occupied territories.''

[02] Gov't names SAIC consortium as final winner of 2004 security contract

The Greek government on Thursday finalised its decision to award a multi-million-euro security contract for the 2004 Athens Olympics Games to a consortium headed by the US-based Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), overcoming a major stumbling block in preparations for the upcoming Summer Olympics.

SAIC's revised bid of 255 million euros came weeks after the consortium's sealed bid of 317 million euros was unveiled by the Greek government.

Multinationals participating in the consortium include General Dynamics, ITT Technologies, Honeywell, IBM, Nokia, Siemens, Rafael and Elbit, as well as the Greece-based and Athens bourse-listed firms Altec, the Pouliadis group and Diekat.

According to the winning bid's terms, 60 percent of the massive contract will go to Greek subcontractors. Siemens will provide the communications networks and sensors, while Nokia will supply the equipment for a central operation control centre overseeing security.

SAIC is the largest employee-owned research and engineering company in the United States, according to its press release.

[03] ATHOC cites increased demand for tickets

The Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee (ATHOC) announced on Thursday that some 730,000 tickets have already been sold, a figure that translated into some 50 million euros or 27.3 percent of the relevant programmes target.

ATHOC expects to garner around 183 million euros or some 9.3 percent of total projected revenues from ticket sales.

Organisers started early bookings on Jan. 1 for so-called ?partner organisations?, namely, national Olympic committees, various international sports federations and broadcast rights holders.

Another three million tickets, out of a total of 5.3 million tickets issued so far, have been set-aside for local and foreign spectators expected to attend the numerous venue sites. Those ticket sales begin on May 12.

''The demand from partners exceeds every expectation and, in some cases, such as with national Olympic committees, demand is greater than tickets reserved for their needs,'' ATHOC announced.

[04] EU-NATO security agreement to be signed on Friday

The security agreement between the European Union and NATO will be signed at the foreign ministry at noon on Friday.

The agreement will be signed by the EU's Council of Ministers President George Papandreou, the EU's High Commissioner Javier Solana and NATO's Secretary General George Robertson.

[05] FIFA vice president inspects work at soccer stadium in view of 2004 Games

FIFA Vice President Isaa Hayatou, accompanied by members of the 2004 football organising committee, on Thursday inspected work being carried out at the Kaftatzoglio stadium, in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, in light of preparations for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Hayatou said in remarks to reporters that a great deal of work has been done at the stadium since he last inspected it a few months ago, at the same time noting that more work has to be done. ''We are satisfied from the progress of work, there is still work to be done but we believe everything will be ready on time,'' the FIFA vice president said.

Member of the 2004 football organising committee, Spyros Kapralos, said ''the people of FIFA remained satisfied from what they saw at Kaftatzoglio today. On our part, we see that we are going well. A great effort is being made.''

[06] Weather Forecast: Scattered cloud on Friday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, turning to showers in low lying areas of the northeast and snow on high ground. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 1C to 9C; on the rest of the mainland from 5C to 15C; and in the islands from 9C to 16C. Temperatures in Athens between 6C and 14C; and in Thessaloniki from 3C to 9C.

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.095

Pound sterling 0.682

Danish kroner 7.486

Swedish kroner 9.347

Japanese yen 129.6

Swiss franc 1.480

Norwegian kroner 7.882

Cyprus pound 0.587

Canadian dollar 1.624

Australian dollar 1.849

[08] Weather Forecast: Scattered c loud on Friday

Scattered cloud is forecast in all parts of the country, turning to showers in low lying areas of the northeast and snow on high ground. Winds variable, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 1C to 9C; on the rest of the mainland from 5C to 15C; and in the islands from 9C to 16C. Temperatures in Athens between 6C and 14C; and in Thessaloniki from 3C to 9C.

[09] Greek stocks jump 1.93 percent on Thursday

Greek stocks rebounded strongly on Thursday in the Athens Stock Exchange following a recovery trend in international markets with the general index surpassing the 1,500 level again.

The index ended 1.93 percent higher at 1,506.43 points, with turnover a low 68.4 million euros.

The Textile sector was the only one to suffer losses (-2.93 percent), while the Publication (4.21 percent), Holding (3.85 percent), Telecommunications (3.67 percent) and IT Solutions (3.55 percent) scored the biggest percentage gains of the day.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.32 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 2.03 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 2.14 percent higher. The wider FTSE/ASE 140 index rose 2.26 percent.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 270 to 48 with another 38 issues unchanged.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article