Athens News Agency: News in English, 09-06-25

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

CONTENTS

[01] Gov't unveils 1.9-bln-euro tax package

[02] 10 Siemens case defendants to testify next week; Tsoukatos on July 1

[03] Sani Festival opens July 17

[04] Stocks end 1.0% down

[01] Gov't unveils 1.9-bln-euro tax package

The measures include the imposition of registration duties on boats with a length exceeding 10 meters and a one-off tax for owners of leisure craft (the measure is expected to raise around 60-70 million euros).

The government will also impose an annual special tax on cars with a high-cylinder engine (raising 80 million euros), raise a special consumption tax for fuels (exempting heating oil), impose a 10 pct duty on pre-paid mobile telephony (raising 140 million euros), abolish a tax-free allowance for lottery tickets (raising 180 million euros), impose a special tax on buildings that violate the terms of construction permits by enclosing spaces originally designated as balconies (raising 1.15 billion euros) and cutting international developmental aid by 120 million euros.

Papathanasiou said the government remains committed to the goals of reducing the fiscal deficit to 3.7 pct of GDP this year, creating initial conditions for limiting public debt and preserving the credibility of the Greek economy. The Greek minister added that a battle to combat tax evasion and cutting public spending would continue.

Caption: ANA-MPA file photograph of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis (left) and Economy and Finance Minister Yiannis Papathanassiou.

[02] 10 Siemens case defendants to testify next week; Tsoukatos on July 1

According to the indictment, the defendants are accused of complicity to commit bribery and money-laundering.

Former main opposition PASOK MP and one-time high-ranking cadre Theodoros Tsoukatos will testify on Wednesday. The examining magistrate is also considering issuing a subpoena for two past treasurers of PASOK -- dating from 1999 -- following Tsoukatos' allegation that he received one million deutschmarks from Siemens Hellas as a "campaign contribution" towards the ruling party.

Meanwhile, First Instance Court prosecutor Leonidas Nikolopoulos has suggested to the Council of First Instance Court Judges to rule in favor of the release of a 300,000-euro bail for the daughter of fugitive Christos Karavelas, a former Siemens Hellas executive.

The charges against her for complicity in money-laundering are based on the fact that her father transferred large sums of money into joint accounts held jointly in his daughters' names from his own account in Switzerland.

[03] Sani Festival opens July 17

A new section, aside from the "Sounds of the World" and "Jazz on the Hill" events, entitled "Music on Films vs Film on Music", will be dedicated to soundtracks, thus commencing cooperation with the Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The festival will feature concerts by the groups "Ska Cubano" and Grammy award winners "Calima" as well as by Michel Legrand, amongst participating artists.

[04] Stocks end 1.0% down

Most sectors moved down, with the Financial Services (3.95 pct), Health (3.34 pct) and Constructions (3.03 pct) suffering the heaviest percentage losses of the day, while Utilities (2.89 pct), Telecoms (2.32 pct) and Personal/Home Products (1.13 pct) scored gains.

The FTSE 20 index eased 1.58 pct, the FTSE 40 index was unchanged and the FTSE 80 index fell 1.16 pct. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 137 to 71 with another 51 issues unchanged.

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