Subject: Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-04-20 From: "HR-Net News Distribution Manager" CONTENTS [01] ND spox: Government is celebrating for what it is destroying [02] Athens records 14 pct jump in tourist arrivals in Q1, say city mayor, airline executive [03] Gang of four rob Piraeus Bank branch, escape with loot --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [01] ND spox: Government is celebrating for what it is destroying The government is celebrating for the destruction it is causing the economy through pension cuts and the reduction of the income tax threshold, New Democracy spokesman Vasilis Kikilias said on Thursday. "In the enclosed tower of Maximos Mansion, cutting pensions and reducing the income tax threshold are reasons to celebrate. Since Mr. Tsipras is not in touch with reality, we'd like to inform him that neither people nor numbers are prospering," he said. In the real economy, there are 144,000 new unemployed from October 2016 to January 2017, an increase in non-performing loans totaling one billion euros in January alone, a 1.2 pct recession in the last quarter of 2016 and a 2.3-billion-euro outflow of deposits in the first two months of 2017, he added. [02] Athens records 14 pct jump in tourist arrivals in Q1, say city mayor, airline executive Athens recorded a 14 percent increase in tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2017 compared with the same period last year, according to data presented on Thursday by city mayor George Kaminis and Aegean Airlines Vice President Eftihios Vasilakis in a joint press conference. Vasilakis said the city registered an all-time record in arrivals in 2016 with 4,600,000 tourists, versus 4,200,000 tourists in 2015, noting that the number of overnight stays is the same. "Tourism is a key driver of our economy, in Athens and the country. But to work, you need synergies and cooperation," he said. "Since 2012, tourist arrivals in Athens have increased by two million […] Athens fulfills all the preconditions to become a unique destination year round. It is a safe European capital in times of instability and uncertainty, a city of democracy, open to the avant-garde and dialogue, hospitable and peaceful," he said. The mayor noted the importance of the major contemporary art exhibition document14, which is being held jointly in Kassel and Athens this year, and has attracted thousands of tourists in its first 10 days of operation. Aegean Airways is providing direct flights between Kassel and Athens for the duration of the exhibition. The press conference also presented a new synergy between the public and private sector, the Athens Tourism Partnership, which concerns cooperation between the municipality of Athens, Aegean and the Athens International Airport. [03] Gang of four rob Piraeus Bank branch, escape with loot Four armed and masked individuals stole money and jewelry from a Piraeus Bank branch in the area of Kallipoli, Piraeus, on Thursday afternoon before making their escape after two-and-a-half hours, police said. The perpetrators threatened the bank employees and customers who were in the branch at around 14:00 and went at the semi-basement where they used oxygen tanks to break into the bank deposit boxes and retrieve money and jewelry. They then run out of the bank and disappeared. A bank employee presses the alarm button at 16:49 but the robbers had already left the scene. Police's security branch is investigating the incident.