Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 99-09-23
MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Thessaloniki, September 23, 1999
SECTIONS
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
NEWS HEADLINES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] ASE BOARD CONVENES TODAY TO DRAW SAFEGUARDING MEASURES
[02] PROSECUTOR FILES CRIMINAL CHARGES OVER COLLAPSED
BUILDINGS
[03] EUROPARTENARIAT TRADE FAIR TO BE HOSTED BY GERMANY
[04] BSEC ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS MEET IN THESSALONIKI TODAY
[05] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE PLUNGED AGAIN TODAY
[06] FIVE COMPANIES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE ARE PLACED
UNDER SUPERVISION
[07] KARAMANLIS WILL BE ON A THREE-DAY VISIT TO THESSALONIKI
[08] HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN TURKEY BY
THE MUNICIPALITY OF KALAMARIA
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] TAIWAN: EARTHQUAKE VICTIM TOLL SURPASSES 2,000 MARK
[10] ATHENS-SKOPJE TWICE A WEEK WITH OLYMPIC AIRWAYS FLIGHT
[11] CYPRUS TALKS EXPECTED TO BE HELD IN OCTOBER AT WEST
POINT
[12] TSOCHATZOPOULOS-COHEN MEETING IN THE FLIGHT TO BOSTON
[13] THE TALKS ON THE ISSUE OF FYROM'S NAME WILL RESUME ON
SEPTEMBER 30
[14] THE EARTHQUAKE CAUSED BIBLICAL DISASTER IN TAIWAN
[15] MR. PAPANDREOU WILL MEET WITH HIS US COUNTERPART MS.
ALBRIGHT
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] ASE BOARD CONVENES TODAY TO DRAW SAFEGUARDING MEASURES
The board of the Athens Stock Exchange will convene
today in order to review the course of a category of stocks
whose activity requires supervision and to draw measures to
safeguard investors.
The shares in this category would be traded in a
different way, i.e. buying and selling prices would be set
during the session at regular intervals based on the total
of bid and offer orders in the system, according to ASE
chairman Spyros Kouniakis.
Main opposition New Democracy party leader Costas
Karamanlis has sent a letter to the authorities of the
Athens bourse, asking for information regarding transactions
in shares of state-controlled Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization (OTE) and Hellenic Petroleum.
[02] PROSECUTOR FILES CRIMINAL CHARGES OVER COLLAPSED
BUILDINGS
The prosecutor of the Athens First Magistrate Court has
filed criminal charges against the parties responsible for
the planning and construction of the Ricomex and BIOKIT
buildings which collapsed on September 7's earthquake.
The multiple counts of first-degree murder and causing
great bodily harm will pave the way for a bevy of criminal
charges to be filed against other individuals who
deliberately by-passed Greece's strict building codes.
Subpoenas have been prepared to determine whether anti-quake
regulations were ignored in the construction of dozens of
other damaged buildings.
[03] EUROPARTENARIAT TRADE FAIR TO BE HOSTED BY GERMANY
Greek and German businesses will have the opportunity
to discuss future alliances at the Europartenariat trade
fair and forum to be held in Potsdam, Germany, on October 28-
29.
Trade between Greece and Germany totaled 5.2 billion
ecu last year, according to the Northern Greek Exporters
Union, making the country Greece's biggest trade partner.
German imports increased 20 percent in the last five
years, marking an annual average growth rate of 5.0 percent.
Imports totaled 2.96 billion ecu in 1994, rising to
3.28 billion ecu the following year, but declining to 3.18
billion ecu in 1996. They rose again in 1997 and 1998 to
3.235 and 3.56 billion ecu, respectively.
On the other hand, Greek exports to Germany remained
stable in 1998 at 1994 levels to total 1.676 billion ecu,
despite small increases in 1995 and 1997.
[04] BSEC ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS MEET IN THESSALONIKI TODAY
Environment ministers from Black Sea Economic
Cooperation pact (BSEC) countries will meet in Thessaloniki
today and tomorrow to seek ways of further cooperation
between agencies of local, national and international level
to prepare policies and programs for environmental
management, pollution control and the assessment of risks in
member-states.
The countries participating in the meeting are Greece,
Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania,
Bulgaria, Albania, the Russian Federation and Moldova.
Turkey's Environment Minister Fevzi Itekin and Greece's
Undersecretary of Environment, Planning and Public Works
will hold a sidelines discussion on the damages brought on
by the earthquakes that devastated both countries recently.
[05] THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE PLUNGED AGAIN TODAY
The Athens Stock Exchange made a new impressive plunge
again today. In a session characterized by mass liquidation
and downward course for all the secondary indexes the
general index recorded losses of 3.90% and closed at
5.818,37, while the volume of transactions reached 410
billion drachmas.
In the banking sector the National Bank of Greece share
closed at 25.700 GRD, the Ionian Bank at 17.870 GRD, the
Commercial Bank at 27.800 GRD, the Ergo Bank at 28.700 GRD
and the Credit Bank at 25.795 GRD.
In the industry sector the ordinary share of the DELTA
dairy industry closed at 11.380 GRD, the Greek Sugar
Industry at 6.606 GRD, the Greek Telecommunications
Organization, OTE, at 7.150 GR, the ordinary share of
Intracom closed at 25.500 GRD, Aget Iraklis at 11.350 GRD
and the ordinary share of TITAN cement industry closed at
26.500 GRD.
[06] FIVE COMPANIES IN THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE ARE PLACED
UNDER SUPERVISION
Five companies trading in the Athens Stock Exchange
will be placed under supervision starting on October 15.
They are Athinea, Viosol, Emporikos Desmos, Greek Textile,
and Klaoudatos.
The decision was made by the Athens Stock Exchange
Board of Directors and the above companies were placed under
supervision as their economic development is not regarded as
satisfactory.
The stocks of those companies will continue trading in
the Stock Exchange but in a way that is different from that
which is in effect for the rest of the companies. They will
trade regularly and not throughout the whole session of the
Stock Exchange, while there will be intense inspection on
the economic developments concerning those companies in
order for investors to be immediately informed on any
activities. At the same time, it will be checked if any
increase recorded in the value of their stocks is real.
[07] KARAMANLIS WILL BE ON A THREE-DAY VISIT TO THESSALONIKI
Right-wing main opposition party of New Democracy
leader Kostas Karamanlis will arrive in Thessaloniki
tomorrow afternoon for a visit that will last until Sunday.
Mr. Karamanlis will arrive at Macedonia Airport at 7pm
and an hour later he will visit the Trade Unions' Center. On
Saturday morning, he will visit the Technical and Trade
Chamber offices and later at noon he will visit the Greek
Sugar Industry plant at Plati in the prefecture of Imathia,
while in the evening he will speak in a dinner that will be
given in honor of the representatives of the production
sector at the "Ioannis Vellidis" conference center. On
Sunday morning, he will visit Thessaloniki's Port
Organization and later at 1pm, he will give a press
conference at the "I. Vellidis" conference center.
[08] HUMANITARIAN AID TO THE EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN TURKEY BY
THE MUNICIPALITY OF KALAMARIA
Humanitarian aid consisting of clothes, food and
medicines will be sent to the earthquake victims in Turkey
by the municipality of Kalamaria.
The mission of love and solidarity headed by Kalamaria
mayor Christodoulos Economidis will depart for Istanbul on
October 9 and is expected to arrive at its destination in
the afternoon of the same day. On October 10 the Greek
mission will visit the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
On October 11 and 12, the Greek mission will visit the
city of Izmit as well as the cities of Degirmentere and
Golcuk which were mostly hit by the devastating earthquake
of August 17. They will also attend a music concert that
will be given by Mikis Theodorakis and Zulfi Livaneli in
Istanbul.
The humanitarian mission members will also visit the
cities of Yalova, Kuri, Aretsu and Katirli, the
unforgettable hometowns the predecessors of the people who
live in Kalamaria today were forced by the Turks to abandon
70 years ago.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[09] TAIWAN: EARTHQUAKE VICTIM TOLL SURPASSES 2,000 MARK
Over two thousand people lost their lives as a result
of the deadly earthquake that devastated Taiwan three days
ago, while 7,000 are hospitalized.
Three days after the disaster occurred, rescue teams
from around the world still continue their efforts to
extract thousands more still entombed in rubble, their task
encumbered by the series of strong aftershocks.
According to rough estimates, the damage caused by the
earthquake is believed to be about three billion dollars,
especially considering the ensuing delays in exports that
will have a reverberating effect on the country's economy.
[10] ATHENS-SKOPJE TWICE A WEEK WITH OLYMPIC AIRWAYS FLIGHT
Olympic Airways will embark on regular flights from
Athens to Skopje twice a week, as of September 25.
The flights will take place from Athens to Skopje every
Tuesday at 11 a.m. and every Saturday at 9 a.m.
The flights will become more frequent as of October 31,
to be held three times a week, every Monday, Wednesday and
Saturday at 7:30 a.m.
[11] CYPRUS TALKS EXPECTED TO BE HELD IN OCTOBER AT WEST
POINT
Washington appears optimistic that inter-communal talks
aiming at the resolution of the Cyprus issue will be
restarted as soon as mid-October.
According to reports, the meeting held between
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Cypriot President
Glafcos Clerides, as well as the marked improvement in Greek-
Turkish relations, have paved the way for a constructive and
productive dialogue between the island's two sides.
During his talks with Ms. Albright, President Clerides
stated that, as the representative of the Greek-Cypriot
community, he is willing to enter talks, on an equal basis,
with Rauf Denktash who will have to accept the invitation
issued by the United Nations Secretary-general Kofi Annan
that he enter the talks as the representative of the Turkish-
Cypriot side.
Concurrently, Greece's Foreign Minister George
Papandreou, in his address before the UN General Assembly,
stressed that Greece and Turkey will have to stand united in
order to facilitate the fall of the last remaining Berlin
wall, i.e. the Cyprus issue.
Should Mr. Denktash accept Mr. Annan's invite, the
talks are expected to be held at the West Point Military
Academy, on October 15.
[12] TSOCHATZOPOULOS-COHEN MEETING IN THE FLIGHT TO BOSTON
Greek minister of defense Akis Tsochatzopoulos had a
discussion with his US counterpart William Cohen in the
flight from Toronto, where the NATO defense ministers
informal summit meeting took place, to Boston. The two
ministers examined issues concerning bilateral relations,
the prospects of cooperation in the ship-building sector,
the situation in the Balkans and especially in Kosovo and
the Greek-Turkish relations.
In statements he made, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos pointed out
that the earthquakes in Greece and Turkey created a positive
climate in bilateral relations. He stated that this new
climate does not solve the problems but it can help in the
further development of the Greek-Turkish relations. Before
leaving for Boston, Mr. Tsochatzopoulos had a meeting with
his Turkish counterpart Mr. Tsakmakoglu.
[13] THE TALKS ON THE ISSUE OF FYROM'S NAME WILL RESUME ON
SEPTEMBER 30
The talks for the settlement of the pending issue
concerning the name that will be used by FYROM will resume
in New York on September 30 under the auspices of UN
mediator Matthew Nimits.
According to the newspaper "Dnevnik", FYROM's
representative ambassador Ivan Tosevski will leave for New
York on Saturday where he will have an acquaintance meeting
with Greece's new representative in the talks ambassador
Ilias Gounaris.
[14] THE EARTHQUAKE CAUSED BIBLICAL DISASTER IN TAIWAN
For a third day the rescue teams in Taiwan are trying
to locate and save the thousands of people who are trapped
under the buildings that collapsed because of the massive
earthquake that hit the country.
The number of victims continues to rise. According to
the latest figures, over 2.000 people have been killed,
7.000 are injured and 2.300 are still trapped under the
rubble, while 207 are missing. The biggest destruction is
recorded in the central regions of the island where many
cities present a picture of biblical disaster.
[15] MR. PAPANDREOU WILL MEET WITH HIS US COUNTERPART MS.
ALBRIGHT
Greek foreign minister Giorgos Papandreou, who is in
the United States, is expected to meet today with his US
counterpart Madeleine Albright.
Speaking yesterday before the heads of the state
delegations in the United Nations, Mr. Papandreou referred
to the Greek-Turkish relations and the Cyprus problem, the
international economy and human rights.
On the Cyprus issue, he said that Greece wants a united
Cyprus with territorial integrity and without an
international force deployed on its territory. He also
announced the joint proposal made by Greece and Turkey for
the establishment of an international action unit that will
offer its services in the case of natural disasters.
|
