Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-08-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] Fine per uninsured worker rises 18-fold, by ministerial decision

[02] Current account balance shows 663mln euro surplus for June, per BoG

[03] Moonlight bonanza: 100-plus events on the night of the full moon on Aug. 21

[01] Fine per uninsured worker rises 18-fold, by ministerial decision

In an announcement, Vroutsis said the raise "turns uninsured labour into an unprofitable and especially risky practice for businesses...as whoever is thinking of acting illegally will have to think it through very carefully."

Vroutsis said that the fines will be imposed immediately on site by an inspector, who will forward the violation immediately to the online tax system as an "immediately proven violation".

"The new system puts an end essentially to impunity based on the ability of an inspector to subjectively assess the violation and on the protracted process of exchanging opinions and memorandums," Vroutsis said.

[02] Current account balance shows 663mln euro surplus for June, per BoG

In its report, the central bank attributed the result mainly to a decline in the trade deficit and, secondarily, to the surplus recorded in the services balance, which was offset by the doubling of the income account deficit, whereas the current transfers surplus narrowed.

The trade deficit fell by 651 million euros, the bank said, mainly owing to a 397mln euro decrease in the net oil import bill, while all other balances also improved. The trade deficit excluding oil and ships contracted slightly, by 87 million euros, as a result of a decline of 132 million euros or 7.0 percent in the import bill, which offset the lower (by 45 million euros, or 4.2 percent) export receipts. The ships' balance (sales minus purchases) recorded a small surplus of 2.3 million euros.

The surplus of the services balance increased by 268 million euros, almost exclusively owing to a significant rise in net travel receipts (by 273 million) and, to a much lesser extent, a contraction in net payments for "other" services (by 22 million). By contrast, net transport receipts dropped slightly (by 27 million), exclusively on account of the higher deficit in the balance of "other" transport (excluding sea transport) services.

The rise in the surplus of the travel services balance is mainly attributable to a 272 million euros (or 20.6 percent) increase in travel spending by non-residents in Greece (also reflecting a rise in non-resident travellers' arrivals by 16.1 percent, according to the Bank of Greece's border survey), while travel spending by residents abroad declined marginally (by 0.8 percent). Finally, the narrowing of the "other" services deficit is chiefly attributable to a contraction of the deficit of insurance and communication services, and to a rise in the surplus of business services.

These developments were partly offset by the increase in the financial services deficit (on account of the 63mln euro fee paid to the European Financial Stability Facility, EFSF, and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, compared with 5mln euros in June 2012) and the narrowing of the construction services surplus. The income account deficit rose by 260mln euros, owing to higher net interest payments and lower net receipts from reinvested earnings (mainly as a result of mergers of foreign bank subsidiaries in Greece with Greek credit institutions). Finally, the current transfers balance showed a surplus of 265mln euros in June 2013 (smaller than the 334mln euro surplus recorded in June 2012), mainly reflecting a corresponding development in the general government balance (chiefly transfers from the EU).

[03] Moonlight bonanza: 100-plus events on the night of the full moon on Aug. 21

In an announcement, Culture Minister Panos Panagiotopoulos publicly thanked the staff involved in ensuring that the "Under the Light of the Moon" programme is a success, such as archaeologists, museum curators or guards at sites and museums, as well as local authorities for their support.

In Attica, however, the Athens Acropolis and Sounion sites will not be open after 8:00 p.m. for safety reasons, due to risks of injury to visitors due to works being carried out on the sites. In Sounion, visitors will have free access to the hill adjacent to the Temple of Poseidon, which has a view of the temple.

There will also be free access to Filopappou Hill in Athens, opposite the Acropolis, where the Athens Municipality's Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a concert beginning at 9:30 p.m. entitled "On Filopappou my love is hidden somewhere".

Visitors can visit the temporary exhibition "The Antikythera Wreck - The ship, the treasures, the mechanism" at the National Archaeological Museum free of charge (from 8:00-11:00 p.m.) and there will be a night of music with musicians Lina Nikolakopoulou and Argyro Kaparou in the garden of the Numismatic Museum of Athens at 9:00 p.m., sponsored by the Museum Catering Company SA.

Visits to the archaeological site at Amfiareio will be accompanied by recordings of orchestral music and the singers Vasilis Lekkas and Melina Kana will be performing at the archaeological site in Elefsina.

There is also a symbolic attempt to 'bridge' the islands of the southern Aegean through a recital on the islands of Andros, Paros, Antiparos, Milos, Amorgos, Sifnos, Ios, Kea, Kimolos, Santorini, Syros, Ikaria and Samos of Federico Garcia Lorca's poem "Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejias" as delivered by Andy Garcia in the 1996 film 'Marcos Zurinaga Muerte en Granada' and by Greek actor Manos Katrakis in the 1971 Greek translation by Nikos Gatsos, from a play by Stavros Xarhakos, and by Notis Pergialis in the 1950s from a Greek translation of the poem by Stathis Spiliotopoulos.

In addition to the events listed above, each region of the country will be hosting events at key sites, especially of music, video shows but also guided tours.

(photo: Temple of Apollo, Ancient Corinth)

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