Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2000-08-23
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, August 23, 2000
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SAE INAUGURATES NEW OFFICES IN THESSALONIKI
[02] ASE NEW PRESIDENT SETS OUT NEW TRADING MEASURES
[03] GREECE, ALBANIA FULLY COOPERATE IN FIGHTING CRIME
[04] PREMIER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
[05] CATERING VAN RAMS PLANE AT MACEDONIA AIRPORT
[06] GREECE NEGOTIATING PURCHASE OF GERMAN LEOPARD 2
[07] STATE TO DECIDE WHICH OFFICIALS WILL BE IN SYDNEY
[08] CONDOLENCES AT THESSALONIKI'S RUSSIAN CONSULATE
[09] ARSONISTS TARGET EGYPTIAN EMBASSY'S CAR
[10] CAT FALLS FROM HOSPITAL CEILING DURING SURGERY
[11] GREECE POSITIVE ABOUT MEETING WITH IOC TOMORROW
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] CYPRIOT FM ARRIVES IN ATHENS NEXT WEEK FOR TALKS
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] SAE INAUGURATES NEW OFFICES IN THESSALONIKI
The Council of Greeks Abroad (SAE) will inaugurate its new
and spacious facilities in Thessaloniki on September 2, in a
ceremony to be attended by a sore of dignitaries and officials,
with distinguished guests the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs
Aggeliki Laiou and Thessaloniki Mayor Vasilis Papageorgopoulos.
SAE President Andrew Athens expressed his gratitude to the
Municipality of Thessaloniki and benefactor Thomas Makrides for
having donated the premises to SAE.
Covering an area of approximately 500 sq. m., the new offices
are located near the city's Music Mansion and take up two levels
of the building formerly housing the Makrides Cultural Center. In
addition to offices, SAE's brand new premises feature a vast
exhibition center and a conference hall.
SAE's presidium is to convene in Thessaloniki between August
31 and September 3.
[02] ASE NEW PRESIDENT SETS OUT NEW TRADING MEASURES
The newly-appointed president of the Athens Stock Exchange,
Panayiotis Alexakis, appeared before Parliament yesterday where
outlined the new measures for upgrading stock trading.
These measures include the introduction of a book-building
procedure with fair prices in all new listings, a provision
whereby the managers of the issues support the price of a stock at
public subscription levels for a six-month period, and publication
at regular intervals of the changes in the size of the interest of
basic shareholders.
Another change to be implemented is ending the system of
listing on the ASE according to priority; instead, specific
criteria about a firm's prospects will be used in determining who
will join the ASE.
Mr. Alexakis, whose appointment was confirmed by Parliament
yesterday, was appointed to the post solely through the votes of
PASOK deputies, as main opposition New Democracy opposed his
placement, while minor opposition party of the Coalition of the
Left and Progress cited conflict of interest as Mr. Alexakis also
serves on the Board of Directors of the Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization (OTE).
[03] GREECE, ALBANIA FULLY COOPERATE IN FIGHTING CRIME
Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoides was received by
his Albanian counterpart Spartak Boci in Tirana yesterday with
whom he discussed bilateral cooperation on fighting crime.
Greece is interested in sending aircraft to spray pesticides
over Albania's extensive cannabis plantations, which result in
large quantities of hashish being smuggled over the mountainous
border regularly.
Messrs. Chrysochoides and Boci discussed a series of issues
related to security, border controls, illegal immigration and drug
trafficking.
In addition to Mr. Boci, the Greek Public Order Minister also
met with Albanian Premier Ilir Meta.
Mr. Meta stressed that relations between the two countries
set an example for the Balkan region, while he also added that
cooperation between the two countries' public order ministries is
exemplary.
Mr. Chrysochoides said that the Albanian authorites need to
dutifully press on with their efforts to fully restore a climate
of security and stability in Albania and added that the Greek-
Albanian agreement pertaining to seasonal employment will be fully
implement next year.
[04] PREMIER SENDS CONDOLENCES TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
Prime Minister Costas Simitis sent a telegram to Russian
President Vladimir Putin yesterday expressing his government's
condolences over the loss of Russia's Kursk nuclear submarine and
its crew.
"With feelings of grief at the tragedy of the submarine Kursk
I wish to express to you and to the families of the crew members
my sincere personal condolences and those of the Greek
government,"
Mr. Simitis wrote.
[05] CATERING VAN RAMS PLANE AT MACEDONIA AIRPORT
A small van belonging to a catering firm accidentally rammed
a Crossair MD-8 passenger jet on the tarmac of Thessaloniki's
Macedonia airport yesterday.
The plane's 160 passengers had not yet started to board, and
nobody was hurt. The MD-8 was grounded for repairs, while its
passengers left for Zurich on another aircraft.
[06] GREECE NEGOTIATING PURCHASE OF GERMAN LEOPARD 2
Greece has reportedly embarked on negotiations for the
purchase of an undisclosed number of Leopard 2 tanks from Germany,
which Berlin has refused to sell to Ankara, citing Turkey's
blemished human rights record.
The German Finance Ministry has confirmed that a
"confidential briefing report" outlining Berlin's intention to
provide Greece with credits towards the purchase of the new tanks
has been tabled with a relevant Bundestag committee.
Greece is apparently in the final stages of selecting a new
main battle tank (MBT) for its armed forces, a deal that could be
worth more than $1.8 billion, and with Germany's Leopard 2A5 as
one of the main contenders. Others candidates for the Greek order
include the US-made M1-A2 Abrams, Britain's Challenger 2E and
France's Leclerc, while previous reports have put the number of
tanks to be purchased at around 250, along with 24 recovery
vehicles and 12 bridge layers.
[07] STATE TO DECIDE WHICH OFFICIALS WILL BE IN SYDNEY
Prime Minister Costas Simitis has assigned the Cabinet's
secretary Socrates Kosmides with the handling of the matter as to
which and how many government officials will travel to Sydney for
the Olympic Games.
According to government spokesperson Dimitris Reppas, who was
responding to a question prompted by reports that there is
heightened interest among state officials for traveling to Sydney,
the state's position is crystal-clear and the Premier has stressed
that the Greek delegation shall be composed in accordance with the
real needs and suitability of each ministry.
[08] CONDOLENCES AT THESSALONIKI'S RUSSIAN CONSULATE
A book of condolences has been opened at Russia's General
Consulate in Thessaloniki, over the loss of the crew aboard the
Kursk nuclear submarine.
The consulate will remain open to the public until 4 p.m.
[09] ARSONISTS TARGET EGYPTIAN EMBASSY'S CAR
Arsonists set fire to a parked vehicle belonging to the
Egyptian Embassy in Athens last night, causing extensive material
damages.
Following the incident, which occurred at 1.30 a.m., an
unknown caller claimed responsibility on behalf of the "Anarchist
Group for Subversion".
[10] CAT FALLS FROM HOSPITAL CEILING DURING SURGERY
A frightened kitty literally dropped from the ceiling of an
operating room in an Athens hospital today, forcing the stunned
doctors and nursing staff to abandon the ongoing surgery midway
and begin chasing the distressed animal around the premises.
According to the police report, the unprecedented incident
occurred at Athens' Laiko Hospital when the operating room's
furred ceiling caved in from the stray animal's weight.
The hospital's president Nikos Papadopoulos expressed his
dismay as to how the cat managed to wander inside the ceiling,
while he added that the said operating room had been constructed a
mere two months ago.
[11] GREECE POSITIVE ABOUT MEETING WITH IOC TOMORROW
Greek Press undersecretary Telemachus Chytiris, expressed the
confidence shown by Greek Prime Minister and members of the Inter-
Parliamentary Committee for the 2004 Olympics, for tomorrow's
meeting, due to be held in Athens with the International Olympics
Committee delegation.
As Mr Chytiris said, the preparations made by Greece for
tomorrow's meeting were reviewed and the government, together with
the Athens 2004 committee, are ready to answer questions relating
to the work that has been done in preparation for the event, so
far this year.
Four Greek government representatives are expected to attend the
Sydney Olympics: Culture minister Theodore Pangalos, Sport
undersecretary George Florides, Foreign minister George Papandreou
and Foreign undersecretary Angeliki Laiou.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[12] CYPRIOT FM ARRIVES IN ATHENS NEXT WEEK FOR TALKS
The Foreign Ministers of Greece and Cyprus, George Papandreou
and Ioannis Kasoulides respectively, will meet in Athens next week
in order to coordinate efforts so that the UN-led talks for a
settlement in Cyprus will go into the substance of the problem.
During the meeting, to be confirmed for August 30, the two
ministers will also discuss issues relating to Turkey's European
Union accession partnership, expected to be decided in November,
as well as relations between Greece and Turkey.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, Mr. Kasoulides stated
that "the meeting in Athens aims at coordinating our actions on
various levels in order to achieve our main aim which is for the
Cyprus talks to become substantive".
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