Subject: News I, 30/07/93 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). To: macedonia@husc.harvard.edu (macedonia list.) Date: Fri, 30 Jul 93 13:32:38 EDT Athens News Agency bulletin, July 30, 1993 ------------------------------------------ Athens, 30/7/93 (ANA) -- The government said yesterday it had chosen the German-led Hochtief/Flughafen Frankfurt consortium to build and operate Athens' new multi-billion dollar international airport. ''This significant project will give Greece an edge over all Balkan and Southeast European countries as it will be among the largest and most modern international airports in Europe, ''Deputy Prime Minister Tzannis Tzannetakis told a news conference. Hochtief AG won the contract over two contending consortiums, one led by the French Societe Auxiliare d'Enterprises SAE and the other by Lockheed Air terminal. The new airport, to be built on 7,300 acres 25 Km's east of Athens, will have three runways with a terminal capacity of close to 50 million passengers. Construction costs are estimated at about 4 billion dollars. ''The project is the largest private investment ever to be made in Greece'', Mr Tzannetakis said. ''Once it is completed, none of our neighbours will have one like it for decades to come...It will allow Greece to dominate air transport in the greater Balkan area'', he added. Construction is expected to begin this summer and the airport is scheduled to open by September 1998. The Hochtief-led group will own 60 per cent of a company formed with the Greek government to build and operate the airport. The agreement runs for 50 years. The Greek government's costs will be covered mostly by a European Community subsidy of 440 million dollars and proceeds from a flight-departure fee, expected to total about 275 million dollars over a seven-year period. The government will provide the land in Spata for a rent of up to 15 per cent of net annual profits. This will be in addition to the government's 40 per cent share of net profits. Athens' existing international airport at Hellenikon will be closed and the site redeveloped. London, 30/7/93 (Reuters) - Former prime minister Andreas Papandreou accepted undisclosed libel damages in London yesterday from a magazine which had implied he was party to embezzlement, bribery and blackmail, his solicitor said. Time magazine printed an article in its international edition in 1989 suggesting that Mr Papandreou was involved in the theft of money from the Bank of Crete by its former owner George Koskotas. The solicitor, Karen Sanig, said the article also implied that Papandreou took bribes from Koskotas, blackmailed him and sought to have him killed. She said the article gravely damaged the ex-prime minister's reputation but he had been vindicated by the out of court settlement. Mr Papandreou was Greek prime minister from 1981 to 1989. A special court there acquitted him in 1992 of plotting to embezzle money from the Bank of Crete. Ms Sanig said the damages awarded to Mr Papandreou were substantial but she did not disclose the amount. Istanbul, 30/7/93 (ANA-A.Kourkoulas) -- The Greater Holy Synod of Orthodoxy will convene in the Phanar today to discuss the crisis in relations between Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem and the Greek Orthodox Church, the general secretariat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy Synod announced yesterday. The convening of a greater Synod is an extraordinary process aimed at handling problems faced by the orthodox Church. The last such meeting was held in 1973 to examine the crisis created in the Church of Cyprus by the irregular and arbitrary attempt to remove then Archbishop Makarios by the three Metropolitans of the Church of Cyprus. That synod restored order in the Church of Cyprus and removed the three Metropolitans, electing a new Synod of the Church of Cyprus. The infiltration of regions falling under the jurisdiction of other Churches and in particular of regions falling under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is the sole issue the major synod will examine, sources said. The Synod is being convened at the order of Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos and will be composed of representatives from Greek Churches. Patriarch Diodoros has also been invited to attend. Sources said the activities initiated by the Jerusalem Patriarchate did not differ from those of the Uniates, a sect that recognises the authority of the Pope but uses Orthodox ritual, and proselytisation by the Vatican in predominantly Orthodox areas. The sources added that the Jerusalem Patriarchate's activities could create dissolutionary conflicts within the Orthodox church. The Ecumenical Patriarchate is obliged to castigate the Jerusalem Patriarch Diodoros' attitude in the strictest manner and underline the terrible dangers it poses to the unity of the Church, sources at the Phanar said. Athens, 30/7/93 (ANA)-- Main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader Andreas Papandreou yesterday criticised the government's policies and said its foreign policy lacked ''any vestige of national strategy''. Speaking at meeting of the party's central committee, Mr Papandreou said Greece had suffered a severe loss of prestige as a result of the government's ''unacceptable handling '' of the Skopje issue. Mr Papandreou added that PASOK opposed Skopje's recognition under any name that would include the word ''Macedonia'' or any of its derivatives. Referring to Greek-Turkish relations, the PASOK leader criticised what he termed the government's insistence on signing a friendship agreement with Turkey and called for the convening of a pan-natinal conference on the Cyprus issue. Mr Papandreou said long-term goals should include economic development of Thrace in order to avoid its ''Cyprusfication'' and an firm stance on the Aegean aimed at strengthening national sovereignty. He added that efforts should be made to secure a special development status for the region within the framework of the European Community's policy for remote areas. ''it is self-evident that (these positions) necessitate a course of renaissance for PASOK itself which we collectively should also guarantee and sanction'', he said. The opposition leader also criticised the government's economic policy, which, he said, had eroded the country's national wealth and productive based, deepened the recession and increased unemployment. Responding to Mr Papandreou's remarks, government spokesman Vassilis Manginas said the opposition leader had simply launched a long series of abuse and slander against the government. ''Surpassed by events altogether and condemned in the Greek people's conscience, he said nothing new and did not set out any proposal'', Mr Manginas said. Athens, 30/7/93(ANA)--CSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Max van der Stoel did not appear satisfied with the responses he received from Albania's Leadership on the position of the Greek minority in Albania, saying he would return to Albania within the first two weeks of August with ''two specialists in ethnic minority rights'', the Macedonian Press Agency reported from Tirana yesterday. ''We will go to south Albania and examine the conditions in which the Greek minority lives and make contacts with various people. On the basis of the information we will obtain, I hope to arrive at some conclusions'', MPA quoted him as saying. The High Commissioner said that despite differences between Albanian authorities and representatives of the ethnic Greek community, he had discerned a common desire by both sides to arrive at a logical solution. In addition to contacts with Albanian, President Sali Berisha and members of the ethnic Greek minority, the High Commissioner also met Albanian Premier Alexander Meksi. Athens, 30/7/93(ANA)--Foreign Undersecretary Virginia Tsouderou paid a one-day visit to Bangkok to discuss bilateral economic and trade relations with government officials, including the deputy prime minister, the Senate president and the alternate foreign minister. The visit laid the groundwork for the signing of agreements which will serve as a framework for bilateral cooperation. Ms Tsouderou also discussed agreements on cooperation in the fields of science and technology and academic exchanges. Thailand, which has a market of 60 million consumers, has one of the highest development rates in the world and offers many opportunities for Greek exports and investments, particularly in shipping. Ms Tsouderou also held an exchange of views on relations between the European Community and the ASEAN countries, including developments in Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam and former Yugoslavia. Her visit to Bangkok came on the heels of a three-day visit to Singapore where she participated in the annual ministerial session of Southeast Asian countries. Athens,30/7/93(ANA)--Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis yesterday expressed the Greek government's abhorrence at the latest terrorist attacks in Italy in which five people were killed. In a message to Italian Prime Minister Carlo Ciampi, Mr Mitsotakis said: ''With the wounds still open in Greece from inhuman terrorist activity, we share the grief of the Italian people, your government and the families of the victims over the deaths, and declare our determination to fight together to eliminate terrorism and punish the perpetrators''. Five people were killed and 20 injured when a car bomb ripped through the heart of Milan on Tuesday night. Six more people were injured in two explosions outside churches in Rome later Tuesday. Athens, 30/7/93(ANA)--Greece has the cleanest beaches in Europe, according to an article published in yesterday's edition of the Belgian daily Het Volk. The article was based on a survey of water quality in the Mediterranean conducted by the Belgian tourism and health ministries. Athens, 30/7/93 (ANA) -- The European Investment bank has approved a 10-billion-drachma-loan for investments by small and medium-sized enterprises, the European Commission bureau in Athens announced yesterday. It said the moneys would be administered by the National bank for Industrial Development (ETEBA). The loan will be used to support projects in the tourism and manufacturing sectors as well as projects related to the environment and energy conservation, the announcement said. Athens, 30/7/93(ANA)--Cargo traffic through Piraeus increased 13 per cent in 1992 compared to the previous year, according to the 1992 financial statements of the Organisation of the Port of Piraeus (OLP) released yesterday. OLP said regular revenues had also increased by 16 per cent over 1991 while regular outlays had only risen by five per cent. The relatively small increase in outlays is due to the strict implementation of the government's economic policy and cutbacks enforced by the port's management, OLP said. OLP added that investments in port development and modernisation had risen 26 per cent last year compared to 1991.