Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Dollis will carry out a visit to Belgrade on October 24 and 25, within the framework of the “Go International” business conference being held by the EFG Eurobank group, in collaboration with the three largest Greek export agencies (Panhellenic Exporters Association, Greek International Business Association, Exporters’ Association of Crete), under the aegis of the Foreign Ministry.
During his stay in Belgrade, Mr. Dollis will meet, on Monday, 24 October, with Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Economy and Regional Development Minister Nebojsa Ciric, and will then address the “Go International” conference (Hyatt Hotel, 19:50). On Tuesday, 25 October, Mr. Dollis will meet with Patriarch of Serbia Irinej.
While in Belgrade, Mr. Dollis will also visit Nebojsa Tower – which was restored with Greek funding, and where Rigas Feraios was tortured – as well as the Belgrade Hellenic Foundation for Culture centre. He is also set to meet with the leadership of the Greek business community in Serbia.
Greek Deputy Finance Minister to Visit Belgrade
Archimedean Academy in Florida Named National Blue Ribbon School
The Greek interest charter schools Archimedean Academy and the Archimedean Middle Conservatory received from the prestigious 2011 National Blue Ribbon Award from the US Department of Education.
Located in Miami, Florida, the two charter schools were among the ten awardees of this year Blue Ribbon Award in the High Performance category. More particularly, the Archimedean Academy was noted as High Performance with more that 40% educationally disadvantaged students and the Archimedean Middle Conservatory was the only middle school from the State of Florida that got the Blue Ribbon Award.
The honoring celebration of the awards was applauded by over 900 students, who were honored along with their teachers and academy staff for their outstanding performance, dedication, talent, and commitment to the mission of the Schools.
On behalf of the Department of education, Mr. Jim Mould was present to congratulate everyone involved in succeeding to become an example for others.
Veria's Robin Hood of Electricity
Where PPC cuts electricity, the “Veria Citizens-Social Solidarity” rushes to help the ones in need…
They are called the Robin Hood of PPC. A team of about 20 unknown activists are reconnecting the electrical power in homes of the city of Veria, where people in need, such as long-term unemployed, pensioners, big families, unemployed mothers, are simply unable to pay the new extra taxes imposed by the government.
In light of the terrible financial circumstances and the grave austerity measures breaking the back of Greek households, the technicians of the team reconnect the power in less than 2 minutes, without the owner of the house knowing they did so.
According to Sunday Espresso, head of the team is the ecologist activist Mr. Nikos Aslanoglou.
“It’s really easy to reconnect electricity. We have helped many families in need so far and nothing is going to stop. We are set to continue so” stated Mr. Aslanoglou.
When told that what the team is doing is illegal and there could be charges against them, Mr. Aslanoglou said he has been prosecuted in the past, as have most members of the activist team. However, he continued “At least I have a clear conscience, and I’m not ashamed of that”.
Veria Citizens hope that their actions will spread throughout Greece very soon as a form of protest against the unpopular measures of the Greek government.
Greek Foreign Minister's Communications with Turkish Counterpart Regarding Earthquake
Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis contacted his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, by telephone regarding the earthquake that struck this afternoon in Turkey’s Van province, causing extensive material damage and an as yet unknown number of deaths.
Mr. Lambrinidis expressed the deep condolences and support of the Greek people for the Turkish people and informed Mr. Davutoglu of the Greek Citizen Protection Ministry’s readiness to provide all possible assistance to the Turkish authorities in their efforts to deal with the disaster.
Ten years ago, Greek-Turkish communication began when mutual assistance took place during earthquakes in both Greece and Turkey.
Heraklion Among Top 21 Smartest Communities of 2012
Despite the poor financial circumstances in Greece, a ray of hope and optimism was cast on Friday after the Intelligent Community Forum (IFC), based in NY, recognized the town of Heraklion, Crete among the 21 smartest communities worldwide for 2012.
The prestigious annual IFC award is given to those communities for their development of a broadband system. Based on nominations submitted by communities large and small from around the world, ICF selects 21 finalists with the potential to become one of the Forum’s Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year.
Louis Zacharilla, director of development at ICF announced this year’s list with the smartest 21 communities during an event organized on the occasion in the town of Eindhoven in Holland.
In total, out of the 21 communities, only 4 are located in Europe, while 10 belong to North America, 3 to Latin America and 4 to Asia. What makes the Heralkion distinction so special is that this is the first time the Greek city has been nominated at such a high ranking place.
A committee consisting of ICF executive staff and academic researchers selects the 21 “smart” communities after assessing the legitimacy and completeness of the submissions.
This year’s IFC theme is Intelligent Communities Platform for Innovation. The Smart21 will be invited to complete detailed questionnaires, which will be due in late December. Review of the questionnaires by ICF’s international team of Analysts will lead to selection of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2012, which will be announced in January at the Pacific Telecommunications Council’s annual conference and the the Intelligent Community of the Year will be announced at the Broadband Economy Building in New York City.
The Greek 12-pages nomination report was co-authored by head of telecommunications and IT systems Mr. Mochaniakis and Mr. Agapidis, under the aegis of the Technology Park Artemis Saitakis and the director of the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Katharakis.
Venizelos Briefed Political Party Leaders on Debt Talks
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos briefed Greek opposition party leaders on European talks about the country’s debt sustainability, the Athens-based Finance Ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
Venizelos spoke to the party leaders, including the head of the main opposition party, Antonis Samaras, by telephone from Brussels, where the talks are being held, the statement said.
Venizelos also held a conference call today with the Hellenic Banking Association, which included representatives of the biggest four Greek banks, a finance ministry official said in an e-mailed statement.
(source: Bloomberg)
20th Anniversary of the Enthronement of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
The Archbishop of America, Demetrios organized a dinner event in Constantinople celebrating 20 years since the enthronement of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Also in attendance were the Patriarchs of Serbia and Georgia Irenaios and Ilias respectively, the Archbishop of Albania Anastasios, hierarchs of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople from Europe, USA, Crete and Dodecanese, and foreign ambassadors to Ankara.
The American President Barack Obama, the President of Turkey Abdulah Gul, the Prime Minister of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan and the foreign ministers of USA and Turkey, Hilary Clinton, and Ahmet Davutoglu respectively took part in the dinner event by sending congratulations messages to the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The Ecumenical Patriarch answered the messages by stating, “I thank God for provided me the opportunity to become a servant of the great miracle named Ecumenical Patriarchate”.
Wealthy Greeks Buy into London Property
According to the Times, hundreds of wealthy Greeks are snapping up expensive London homes in the rush to get money out of their stricken home economy.
According to London estate agents, Greek buyers have driven the market forward with purchases totaling £250 million.
Greeks believe that London is a secure place for investing their money. “For many people of Greece, a house in London would be indicative of prestige”, Nick Candy, British property Developer has stated.
Candy concluded, “Many Greeks have purchased homes in the most expensive area of London (Hyde Park Str., No 1), where flats can costs £7 million”.
Seamen End 8-Day Strike Disrupting Supplies
Seamen ended on Monday a week-long anti-austerity strike which stranded ferries and passengers at ports, hitting the key tourism sector and disrupting food and fuel supplies to islands.
Greece’s Socialist government is defying labour union action and implementing further belt-tightening measures prescribed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for more bailout funds to avoid bankruptcy.
“The strike is over. It lasted eight days and our demands were not satisfied. We must now re-evaluate our strengths and reorganise,” said Yannis Halas, general secretary of the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation PNO.L.
At the weekend, seamen in Crete bowed to pressure from angry farmers fearing 600 tonnes of vegetables and fruit would rot on trucks at the island’s harbours, and allowed three ships to sail to Piraeus, the port for the capital Athens.
PNO wants wage rises, a halt to layoffs and more jobs, among other demands.
(source: Reuters)
ASE Posts Heavy Losses Amid Haircut Developments
Athens Stocks recorded heavy losses on Monday, in the wake of European Union Summit and amid feverish processes regarding the haircut on Greek bonds.
Banking index ended just above new lows, with intraday losses of 17.32% at 310.51 units.
On the board, the General Index ended at 747.08 units with losses of 4.51%, moving in negative territory throughout the trading session. Intraday losses reached 6.06%, while Greek banks fell by 16.85% at 312.27 points.
A total amount of 123 shares posted losses on Monday, while 36 rose and 117 remained unchanged, while the trading turnover stood at €47.76 million.
On the other hand, Hellenic Postbank and Piraeus lost 25.11% and 22.15%, while National Bank and Eurobank followed with losses of 20.79% and 20.25% respectively. Alpha Bank plunged by 19.74%, while Ellaktor, Marfin Popular Bank and MIG fell by 10.77%, 9.84% and 8.18% respectively.
(source: capital)