Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-04-20

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

CONTENTS

[01] Papandreou at Democrats of the Left congress in Italy

[02] JP Morgan offer to annul structured bond

[03] Energy talks with Bulgaria, Turkey

[04] C-sections rising in Greece

[01] Papandreou at Democrats of the Left congress in Italy

Speaking in Italian, Papandreou said "only united; only together can we win and change the world, because we have real differences from conservatives and the right --. Differences in values."

The 4th congress of the Democrats of the Left, the party that developed from the Italian Communist Party, began on Thursday with 1,550 delegates, 147 representatives of 73 parties from all over the world, international organisations from 73 countries and 65 diplomatic delegations.

The party currently constitutes the biggest "pylon" of the ruling coalition headed by Romano Prodi.

Papandreou said that democracy needs renewal today for the good of its citizens, adding that it is not an issue of election tactics but a crucial case for political life.

"Common conscience makes us intelligent enough to enable us to work together, to think of tomorrow and not only of today, to break the wall of inequalities between genders, races and nations, as well as the real walls that exist in Palestine and Cyprus," the PASOK leader said.

Lastly, Papandreou expressed his support for the government of Prodi and did not omit, in view of the April 21 anniversary, to thank Italian parties for their solidarity to the struggle a Greek military dictatorship, 1967-1974.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Papandreou.

[02] JP Morgan offer to annul structured bond

The purchase of the specific bond by the state-run civil servants' supplementary fund under questionable terms caused a political firestorm in the country between the government and opposition, with the former tabling urgent legislation envisioning stricter rules for the management of funds' reserves and investments, but with the opposition referring to fraudelent practises and sleaze.

The investment bank, in a press release, said it hoped the bond would be repurchased by all participants in transactions that followed, so that its current holders - including pension funds - would be reimbursed the money they allocated to purchase it. The firm also stressed that "proceeds from transactions of the Greek structured bond were in line with current market standards for similar transactions.

JP Morgan said its offer aimed at annulling a structured bond, worth 280 million euros, issued by the Hellenic (Greek) Republic on Feb. 22, 2007. The bond was later sold to North Asset Management (NAM), according to standard rules of the market. In its announcement, the investment firm said it would repurchase the bond from NAM at the same price it sold it, at 92.95 pct of its nominal value. After the repurchase, JP Morgan plans to submit an offer to return the bond to the Hellenic Republic under the initial terms and annul a swap agreement, ensuring that the Hellenic Republic suffered no damages from the transaction.

JP Morgan said it hoped that all participants in the transactions over the Greek structured bond would follow its move in repurchasing the bond. The investment firm said it believed that current holders of the bond would take back their money in full.

"Our wish in all this process was the do the right thing for our customer, Hellenic Republic. The bond, which we underwrite, is a standard practice for several issuers, including EU member-states, seeking borrowing under favorable terms. The Greek state has issued more than 50 such bonds since 1999. We believe, however, that our proposal to repurchase to bond and annul the swap agreement would facilitate efforts to finding the best solution to the matter".

Gov't reaction

Replying to questions during a regular press briefing later, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said the government will examine all the aspects of the JP Morgan proposal, with its criteria being a full restoration of losses that may have resulted from this transaction.

Meanwhile, a Coalition of the Left (Synaspismos) political bureau member said that "JP Morgan, with its proposal, confesses its own responsibilities and, in essence, acknowledges the mega-scandal and the scam set up with structured bonds of the public sector".

Synaspismos cadre Panayiotis Lafazanis said it was imperative that all so-called "structured" bonds be immediately recalled, with a return of monies paid by the social insurance funds "in full, and with interest".

Lafazanis further called for the establishment of a parliamentary fact-finding commission on the issue.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Roussopolos.

[03] Energy talks with Bulgaria, Turkey

Sioufas held similar talks in Romania on Thursday morning.

He concluded his Bulgarian visit with a meeting Thursday night with the Greek Business Council of Sofia, with the talks focusing on the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, whose interstate agreement for construction was signed in mid-March in Athens between Greece, Bulgaria and Russia.

The minister had talks with representatives of the 80 Greek companies active in Bulgaria during a meeting at the Greek embassy in Sofia .

A first step in the new momentum in Greek-Bulgarian relations anticipated from the pipeline and Bulgaria's recent EU accession is an envisioned second connection of Greece's electricity grid, at Nea Santa (Public Power Corp. substation at Philippi), with one of Bulgaria's largest power plants, the Maritsa Iztok, via a high-voltage transmission interconnection.

This project was discussed in detail on Thursday night during a meeting between Sioufas and Bulgarian Economy and Energy Roumen Ovcharov.

Sioufas said during a joint pres conference with Ovcharov after their meeting that this was a mutually beneficial project, which would on the one hand substantially expand Bulgaria's abilities as an electrical power exporter not only to Greece but also to the SE Europe energy grid, while on the other hand it would stabilise the network of electricity supply to Greece from Bulgaria and other countries in the region in the event of an emergency.

Ovcharov assured Sioufas that the Bulgarian side will make every effort to maintain the existing rate of electrical power supply, which he said was capable of meeting potential extraordinary needs on Greece's side, despite Bulgaria's limited capabilities following the recent closure of reactors 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy nuclear power station.

Replying to press questions, Sioufas noted that Bulgaria's application for re-examination and review of the decision for closure of the two reactors was an issue that fell under the jurisdiction of the European Commission and the other EU bodies.

The state-run Public Power Corp.�s (PPC) prospective acquisition of the Bobov Dol power station in southwestern Bulgaria, when relevant negotiations are completed, would serve as another economic collaboration between the two countries.

Sioufas further announced that the PPC director would visit Sofia next week to discuss the problems that resulted in a new postponement of the Bobov Dol station's privatisation to April 30.

Greece's PPC won an international tender by the Bulgarian state for the privatisation of Bobov Dol in April 2005.

Ovcharov, on his part, cited a settlement of any outstanding issues surrounding the Bobov Dol deal, many of which fell under the authority of Bulgarian minister of environment and waters, Djevdet Chakurov.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Sioufas.

[04] C-sections rising in Greece

The observation was made by Thessaloniki Midwife Association President Olga Arvanitidou during association's 13th Post-Graduate Seminar, which opened on Friday.

Arvanitidou stressed that skewed management system and "anachronistic childbirth services" in Greece's public health sector must be entirely redesigned.

Additionally, she pointed to galloping costs of childbirth services in the country, often as high as 10,000 euros, with much of the cost not covered by the state or insurance companies. She attributed skyrocketing costs to an "uncontrolled growth" of private sector health services and poor maternity wards and services in public hospitals.

According to available figures, in the wider Athens region alone, only 37 percent of births are recorded at state hospitals, compared to 45 percent and 55 percent in private clinics, respectively, in the rest of the country.

Arvanitidou also underlined that there is not one hospital in Greece characterised as "baby friendly", whereas in Turkey there are already 70 such hospitals and in Sweden all hospitals are "baby friendly". Another area of concern is the very low percentage of women breastfeeding their babies and the rising use of maternal milk substitutes recorded in Greece compared to other European countries.

Finally, she called for a national register to monitor and record statistics for pregnancies (normal and high-risk) at all hospitals, clinics and private health centers as well as private physicians' clinics.

Statistics regarding pregnancies, births and even abortions in the east Mediterranean country - an imperative element in determining public health policy and trends in the sector - are at best spotty.

ANA-MPA file photo.

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