Athens News Agency: News in English, 04-02-05

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

CONTENTS

[01] Parliament to be dissolved on Feb. 11, elections on March 7, Cabinet

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

[03] Weather Forecast: Fair, local cloud on Thursday

[04] Nat'l competitiveness council unveils first-ever report

[05] New power plant of Greek Petroleum company to begin operation in 2005

[06] Greek-Turkish exploratory contacts to take place in London on Thursday

[07] Cheap and small houses in downtown Athens preferred by Olympic Games

[08] Greek Army General Staff chief Antonakopoulos meets Bulgarian

[01] Parliament to be dissolved on Feb. 11, elections on March 7, Cabinet decides

Parliament will be dissolved on February 11, general elections will be held on March 7, and the new parliament arising from the elections will be convened on March 18, it was formally decided Thursday by the Cabinet.

Sources said that during Thursday's final meeting of the Cabinet ahead of the elections, prime minister Costas Simitis presented an account of the government's work during the past four-year term in office, and told his ministers that ''all together, we achieved much for the country's progress'', focussng particularly on Greece's economic performance, Greek-Turkish relations, and other foreign policy issues.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates: Thursday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.262

Pound sterling 0.687

Danish kroner 7.510

Swedish kroner 9.257

Japanese yen 133.1

Swiss franc 1.581

Norwegian kroner 8.790

Cyprus pound 0.590

Canadian dollar 1.694

Australian dollar 1.654

[03] Weather Forecast: Fair, local cloud on Thursday

Fair weather with local cloud in Cyclades and northern Crete. Winds northerly moderate to strong and gale force in southern Aegean. Temperatures in Athens 8C to 18C and in Thessaloniki 3C to 15C.

[04] Nat'l competitiveness council unveils first-ever report

Greece's National Council for Competitiveness and Development on

Wednesday presented its first report on the country's economic competitiveness, praising economic achievements made so far and urging more efforts to boost productivity in the public sector, adopting new technology and boosting spending on research and development.

The report by the Council, including representatives by all productive classes in the country - workers and employers - said that the Greek economy's advantage was that it was starting from a high level in the economic cycle, with investments made in past creating an upgraded starting point for businesses and the economy as a whole. The country's human resources enjoyed a relatively high level of general education and relatively high skills of use of foreign languages, two elements facilitating economic adjustment to new technology and a globalised economy, the report said.

[05] New power plant of Greek Petroleum company to begin operation in 2005

Development Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of the Greek Petroleum (ELPE) company's new power plant that shall begin operating in July 2005.

The plant will be built at ELPE's industrial complex in the municipality of Ehedoros in Thessaloniki. The project is budgeted at 250 million euros and is being carried out by ELPE's subsidiary ''Energiaki Thessalonikis SA.''

The minister said the plant will contribute substantively to covering part of the country's increasing needs for electric power.

ELPE President George Moraitis said about a third of the project has already been carried out and that the plant will have a considerable contribution to the creation of jobs.

[06] Greek-Turkish exploratory contacts to take place in London on Thursday

The 23rd round of exploratory contacts between Greece and Turkey, with ambassador Anastasios Skopelitis and Turkish Foreign Ministry Secretary General Ugur Ziyal, will take place in London on Thursday.

A relevant announcement was made by foreign ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis.

[07] Cheap and small houses in downtown Athens preferred by Olympic Games visitors

Small and cheap houses, primarily in central areas of Athens such as Plaka, Kolonaki, Pangrati and Gyzi, have the greatest demand from abroad by people wishing to come to watch the Athens Olympic Games in the summer.

This fact has obliged the Greek Tourist Agency (EOT) to ultimately meet the demand by joint venture ''Filoxenia 04'' and to include in the Olympic private houses renting programme houses built before 1981 as well, which had been ''blocked'' by initial specifications given by EOT to the programme's contractors.

Applications by interested landlords currently amount to about 27,000, while at the same time about 600 contracts have been signed with real estate owners.

[08] Greek Army General Staff chief Antonakopoulos meets Bulgarian counterpart

SOFIA (ANA/B.Borisov) - Greece's Army General Staff chief George Antonakopolos held talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Nikola Kolev here on Wednesday on defence cooperation between the two countries.

Antonakopoulos, currently on a three-day visit to Bulgaria, assured of Greece' support for Bulgaria's entry to NATO.

The enlargement of NATO's southeastern flank with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania will act positively in the procedure for stabilising the western Balkans, Kolev said.

Referring to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Kolev said in a joint press conference that ''in cooperation with the agencies and services of the interior ministry, we will contribute to safeguarding the common borders to prevent any possible infiltration by undesirable elements into Greece through Bulgaria.''

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