Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-02-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] The government is buying time and the climate stabilizes

[02] Fernando Santos speaks to ANA about his love for Greece

[03] Deputy Labour Min Antonopoulou: Europe's future with work equality

[04] OPAP launches 100-mln-euro investment program

[01] The government is buying time and the climate stabilizes

This time is necessary so that the programme agreed with the institutions is concluded, the economy recovers and the country taps the markets. Meanwhile, the social programme, or the so called parallel programme, will be fully implemented.

"The key message has been given and this is the restoration of stability, the final end of risky and catastrophic scenarios and the consolidation of confidence in the Greek economy," government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Tuesday said during a press briefing.

Government sources stressed to the Athens Macedonian News Agency the importance of European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici's statement. Moscovici said that "the Eurogroup allowed the return of the institutions in Athens in order to create a balanced package."

The same sources said that the Greek government insists on asking German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to adopt more realistic positions because the 3.5 percent surplus target for 10 years is not realistic at all.

[02] Fernando Santos speaks to ANA about his love for Greece

When I was invited to an official dinner hosted by the Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos at the presidential mansion of Lisbon, I could not imagine that I would have the honor to sit next to the world leading coach for 2016, Fernando Santos.

Fernando Santos, former coach of the Greek national team, as well as AEK, PAOK and Panathinaikos teams and current coach of Portugal's national team, opened his "Greek" heart to the Athens Macedonian News Agency and spoke among others about his love for Greece.

"I really love Greece. I do not pretend that I am Greek. I am Portuguese with a Greek heart," he stated and added: "I love Greece as my second home. I have a lot of friends there. My wife loves Greece and one day I will come back."

Santos admitted that when he took the job, he believed that it would last for two days. He has been already been fired three time in Greece. But then he realised that things were different in the national team. The players believed in him. His role was to persuade them that hard work was required.

The former coach of the national team stressed the importance of the football infrastructure. "Greece lacks modern stadiums, but also the proper professionalism. Players, officials ... Nowadays a key factor in modern football is the combination with science. This is very important. This is how players will better perform. This is the key," he underlined.

He also spoke highly of Portugal's national team and the players that worth tens of millions, such as Christiano Ronaldo. "He is a perfect professional player but also an excellent person. He helps a lot of people secretly. And let's not forget that he is only 32 years old who is daily faced with great challenges."

In the end of the discussion, Santos sent his love to Greece and promised to come back.

[03] Deputy Labour Min Antonopoulou: Europe's future with work equality

According to Antonopoulou, "the gap has exceeded sustainable levels, already affecting economies and threatening the cohesion of societies. It has been proven that some inequalities are associated with the mechanisms governing the workplace - from the level of wages and the type of labour relations to the constant professional education."

"Therefore" - she noted - " it is more critical than ever to see the future of Europe through these policies in order to ensure balance and fairness in the workplace."

The conference, entitled "Inequality and the labour world: The role of industrial relations and social dialogue", is jointly organized by the International Labour Organisation and the European Commission.

The conference, held on February 23 and 24, in Brussels, focuses on the impact of the increase in inequality in European social policies, but also the prospects of restructuring the European economy, with particular emphasis on the role of labour relations.

[04] OPAP launches 100-mln-euro investment program

The investment, worth 100 million euros, aims to develop agents into local entertainment destinations and to maximize their prospects, company sources said, adding that investments made so far to upgrade the portfolio of product and services have created an additional turnover of 500 million euros and additional revenue worth 40 million euros for agents.

OPAP sources said these investments responded to the evolving expectations of customers and intensified competition, adding that a mutual development of OPAP and its agents was based, mostly, on their response to the needs and expectations of customers in a dynamic and changing environment.

Investing on agent network is a strategic priority for the company, consistent with the Vision 2020, which envisages the establishment of OPAP as a global class company in the sector of lottery games and entertainment. Despite an ongoing crisis, OPAP is implementing one of the biggest investment and business initiatives in Greece, worth 100 million euros. This investment will create a safe and stable environment for its agents for the next five years. A new contract signed by OPAP and its agents will play a decisive role to achieve this goal, as it was drafted based on commercial criteria, fully responding to current data, it was fair and established policies and tools that give a boost to network growth and ensured stability for the next five years. The new contract also clarified the landscape in commission policy, establishing a commission factor on net revenue from games, making life more simple for OPAP and its agents.

OPAP is seeking network growth by investing in three pylons: product and services, stores and agent support.

OPAP said that the biggest part of the 100-million-euro investment will be made in 2017, offering agents more tools and opportunities to expand activities and boost revenues (for example, virtual games could boost revenue based on Inspired data base and examples drained from the experience in the Italian market).

The company will seek an upgrade of its betting services, horse betting, KINO and Joker, introducing play games, new payment services through Tora, virtual games by Inspired and automatic services devices SSBTs. It also plans to upgrade its IT infrastructure. OPAP sources said a top priority for 2017 was to begin operations of its play games through a big part of its existing agent network and through the exclusive gaming halls.

The company said that in 2016 more than 500 agents participated in a Retail Excellence program and training sessions, which contributed to the creation of additional commissions worth 1.5 million euros to these agents.

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