HomeboyMediaNews

The European Commission threatened yesterday to take legal action against Greece on about six different fronts unless the country moved ahead with changes to laws in areas relating to sports betting, notaries, road tunnels, opticians and professional drivers.

The Commission said that it would take Greece, along with Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg, to an EU court for allowing only their own nationals to practice as notaries. The EU’s executive arm said that the restrictions run contrary to the principle of freedom of establishment.

A similar issue has arisen in the field of optical stores. According to Greek law, only holders of optician diplomas can operate optical stores.

Legal action is also being taken against Greece for failing to adopt EU directives aimed at improving the safety of road tunnels longer than 500 meters. The Greek government had until June 2006 to adopt stricter guidelines on the number of emergency exits and types of firefighting systems in long tunnels.

The Commission also quizzed Greece yesterday in an official request for information on whether its sports betting laws were in line with EU rules. Although the European Commission is not seeking to liberalize the sports gambling market, it has recently been leading an offensive against state monopolies in the sector, which it says keep out newcomers.

At least 95 blazes break out across the country; power cuts continue

A tractor and watering pump were mobilized yesterday in efforts to extinguish a blaze that broke out in the village of Anatoli, in Kissavos, near Mount Olympus. The fire was one of at least 95 reported to have ravaged different parts of the country yesterday as temperatures remained high. One of the worst blazes was on the island of Poros where several homes were reported to have been damaged. Tourists were evacuated from the island’s Neorion district in water taxis. There were no reports of any injuries resulting from the blazes.

Sizzling high temperatures yesterday helped spark at least 95 fires across the country and caused blackouts in many parts of Attica as the national power network struggled to meet increased demand.

The fire service was out in full force, striving to extinguish blazes in different parts of the country. The worst of the fires were on the island of Poros, at Diakofto, in the northern Peloponnese, in Ileia prefecture, in Larissa and in Volos. On Poros, tourists were evacuated from hotels in the Neorion district, where a large blaze proved difficult to control. There were no reports of injuries but several homes were damaged. Firemen were struggling to contain the blaze late last night. Meanwhile state officials started assessing the extent of the damage wreaked by Tuesday’s fires in Halkidiki, the Peloponnese and on Crete.

Although temperatures dropped two degrees yesterday, reaching highs of 44 Celsius (111 Fahrenheit), power consumption remained high too, as millions of air-conditioning units operated in homes and offices. According to electrical appliance retailers, sales of air-conditioning units have reached record levels. In the past three days alone, 25,000 air conditioners were sold in Attica.

But the increased use of air conditioners proved too much for the power network at times, with blackouts in parts of Attica, Crete and other islands continuing for a second day. However, Development Ministry General Secretary Nikos Stefanou claimed that the electricity network’s performance had been impressive. “It was a miracle, the grid handled tremendous demand,” he told Flash Radio. “The distribution network in some areas of Athens was built to handle loads of only a fifth of what they are today,” he said.

The Public Power Corporation has appealed to citizens to avoid using several electrical appliances at the same time. Media reports yesterday set the heat-related death toll at 10, though authorities have so far confirmed only five deaths.

The heat wave is expected to subside from today with temperatures dropping to relatively seasonal levels over the weekend.

Dozens of forest fires, fanned by strong winds in a six-day heatwave, continued across central and southern Greece today, killing two people and burning scores of houses.

The two men died of smoke inhalation when a fire near the central Greek town of Agia encircled their car, forcing them to flee in vain on foot. Further south, hundreds of firefighters, five airplanes and helicopters battled a blaze that had started some 70 km north of Athens but was now closing in on Mount Parnitha, 30 km north of the capital.

Exploding World War Two mines deep in the lush pine forest near Dervenochoria, about 80 km north of Athens, was further hampering firefighters’ work.

“This is a very difficult night. There are some signs of optimism and we will fight this all night,” Public Order Minister Byron Polydoras told reporters. More than 130 fires had broken out in the past 48 hours, he said.

The fire started in Dervenochoria before another part of the forest further south caught fire, sending a huge plume of thick black smoke rising into the sky, visible from all over Athens. The Greek air force ordered the helicopter evacuation of its staff on its radar station on top of Parnitha, while summer camps, a casino and houses in the area were also evacuated.

Fire brigade officials said many of the fires had been triggered by explosions of electricity pylons due to the heat but in some cases they were investigating arson attacks. Polydoras said they had found that some fires in the past two days had been started deliberately.

Temperatures across the country held above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for a sixth consecutive day, stretching emergency service and power demand. Temperatures reached 46C earlier this week.

In pictures: Europe heatwave > BBC

Power consumption in heat-stricken Greece nearly topped the all-time record on Wednesday, as the Public Power Corporation (PPC) said demand reached 10,505 MW at one point, from 10,512 MW the previous day.

Temperatures were at or above the 40C mark for a second consecutive day, with weather forecasts, thankfully, pointing to a gradual decrease with a distinctly cooler weekend in store. High temperatures overnight also didn’t allow the grid, distribution stations and breakers to cool off properly, state-run PPC said in a statement.

Power interruptions were reported in almost a dozen greater Athens districts on Wednesday, where demand in Attica prefecture reached 4,118 MW.

The islands of Lesvos and Syros also experienced power outages, while power generation was down on Crete due to a malfunction at a local station.

Casual apparel firm People’s Liberation has signed an exclusive agreement with Greek distributor Lakis Gavalas for its William Rast clothing in Greece and Cyprus.

“We’re very pleased to have partnered with Lakis Gavalas in support of our international expansion effort,” said Colin Dyne, the company’s CEO.

Gavalas distributes clothing, accessories, leather goods, shoes, lingerie, fragrances, jewellery, home furnishings and lighting to more than 400 retail stores. Its portfolio of brands including Burberry London, Dolce & Gabbana, Dsquared2 and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Dyne added that Lakis Gavalas “afford us the essential infrastructure necessary for us to achieve our goal of increased global awareness of the William Rast brand.”

Related Links > http://www.lak.gr/english/home.html

 www.peoplesliberation.com and www.williamrast.com

Greek construction group Hellenic Technodomiki said its consortium has won a 1.15 billion euro build-own-operate-and-transfer (BOOT) road works project in central Greece at Maliakos-Kleidi.

The other members of the consortium are Hochtief PPP Solutions with a 35 percent stake, local company J&P Avax with 16.25 percent, Vinci SA with 13.75 percent, Aegek with 10 percent, and Athena Technical with 5 percent.

Construction of the 231 km road is expected to take 54 months and the concession will last for 30 years. The contract has to be ratified by Parliament within four months and works will start after that.

UPDATE > 30 June 2007

A jovial Environment and Public Works Minister Giorgos Souflias yesterday presented the plan for the 230-kilometer highway from the Maliakos Gulf to Kleidi Imathias in Macedonia, whose construction will start by a concessionnaire consortium in November.

The project has a budget of 1.15 billion euros, of which the government will put up only 173 million, but the toll charges will be the country’s highest, 5 euros for 100 kilometers. The concession is for 30 years. ‘The importance of the project is huge,’ said Souflias, particularly with regard to improving road safety and saving lives.

The Greek government successfully placed a 10.7 percent stake in Greece’s dominant telecoms operator, OTE-Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation, at the top of the price range.

The placement referred to the sale of 52.5 million shares of OTE within the price range of EUR 20.8-21.4 raising a total of EUR 1 billion. The placement was made through an accelerated book building process to Greek and international qualified investors. The managers were CFSB, UBS, Merill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Eurobank, NBG, Piraeus and Alpha Bank.

OTE shares were last trading at EUR 21.78 per share. The state currently holds a 38.7 percent stake in OTE, part of which Greece’s conservative government wants to sell as the centerpiece in its EUR 1.7 billion privatization program for 2007, which has drawn no revenue so far.