Bank of Cyprus profit rises November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Business & Economy.Tags: Bank of Cyprus, Banking, business, Cyprus, economy, Greece
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Bank of Cyprus said yesterday nine-month net profit rose 66 percent to 370 million euros ($542 million), bolstered by growth in lending.
Net interest income came in at 556 million euros, an increase of 26 percent. The bank also raised its full-year 2007 profit target to 486 million euros from 415 million. The bank, Cyprus’s largest lender, said it will pay an interim dividend per share of 0.11 Cyprus pounds. Bank of Cyprus reported a strong increase in loans and deposits. In Cyprus, the bank said its profit after tax rose 71 percent to 293 million euros, while after-tax earnings in Greece rose 60 percent to 70 million euros.
European Goldfields profit jumps up November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Business & Economy.Tags: business, Canada, economy, European Goldfields Ltd, Greece, Halkidiki, Olympias, Stratoni
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European Goldfields Ltd, the Canadian owner of the Stratoni mine in Halkidiki, northern Greece, said third-quarter profit jumped more than eightfold after it extracted more lead and silver and sales of stockpiled ore increased.
Net income climbed to $12.16 million, or 7 cents a share, from $1.48 million, or 1 cent, a year earlier, the Whitehorse, Yukon-based company said in a statement. Sales rose 42 percent to $21.7 million. European Goldfields said its processing of ore from Stratoni, which opened in 2005, was more efficient in the quarter. Silver production gained 57 percent to 297,321 ounces while lead output climbed 55 percent to 3,759 tons. Zinc production halved to 2,364 tons. Sales of stockpiled gold ore from the Olympias project almost doubled.
Greek inflation rate rises to 14-month high on oil November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Business & Economy.Tags: business, economy, Greece, Inflation rates, National Statistics Service, Oil, oil prices
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Greece’s inflation rate rose in October to the highest in 14 months on fuel-price increases.
The country’s annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 3.1 percent in October from 2.9 percent the previous month, the National Statistics Service said today in a statement handed out to reporters in Athens.
That’s its highest level since August 2006. Gasoline prices contributed most to the increase, rising 13 percent from the previous year, according to the statement. Rising oil prices weigh more on inflation in Greece than in the rest of the euro area because the country is more dependent on oil products to cover its transport and energy needs.
Under a harmonized European Union measure, inflation accelerated to an annual 3 percent from 2.9 percent in September, the statement said. That’s the highest since February.
Auditors check Greek hospital bills November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Health & Fitness.Tags: Auditing, Greece, Health, Hospital Expenditures
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Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said that auditors have been appointed to keep a check on hospital finances in a move aimed at stamping out illegal spending practises costing the state millions of euros every year.
Avramopoulos said the Ministry has appointed the auditors as the govenment prepares to implement tighter controls over medical supplies. “The message is clear. A lack of transparency and corruption will not be tolerated. Wherever there is a law being broken there will be exemplary punishment and administrative penalties,” said the Minister.
The auditors will complete their checks by the end of the year and hand over their findings to a new government committee overseeing health expenditure. The government plans to submit to Parliament at the start of next year a draft bill that will transfer the monitoring of hospital purse strings to a joint Ministerial Committee.
According to sources, the Finance Ministry has already stepped up checks on hospitals through its Special Investigation Service (SIS) after increasing reports of employees fixing tender deals, in effect awarding contacts to a limited number of suppliers in exchange for a kickback. It is hoped tighter controls will reduce spending in the sector by about half a billion euros, according to Ministry estimates, as part of government plans to tighten fiscal policy.
Separately, the Minister also said that people suffering from a permanent disability will be given a lifelong social security card rather than having to renew it every two years, as required by current regulations.
Athens City Council calls for help on blue bins November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Environment.Tags: athens, Athens City Council, Environment, Greece, Hellenic Recovery and Recycling Corporation, Recycling
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The Athens City Council has appealed to the state-owned Hellenic Recovery & Recycling Corporation (HERRCO) for assistance in improving its recycling program.
Regular rubbish trucks collecting recyclable material, consumers failing to sort waste before placing it in blue bins and an insufficient number of dumpsters are some of the program’s key problems.
George Dimopoulos, Athens’s Deputy Mayor responsible for recycling and cleaning, said the city needs to add 6,000 recycling bins to the current 1,900, but added that rubbish collection resources are tight. “In order to reach 6,000 blue bins we need another 160 employees along with the respective wage, fuel and truck maintenance costs,” he said. “We are asking HERRCO to assist in the collection procedure,” he added.
HERRCO provides the blue bins but Municipalities are responsible for rubbish collection. Dimopoulos said the Environment Ministry needs to change the broader framework regulating recycling programs as a means of overcoming funding problems. According to HERRCO, it is not contractually obliged to provide money for rubbish collection.
Meanwhile, a study commissioned by Skai Radio and Television indicated that 75 percent of respondents believe the government ought to create a separate Environment Ministry to deal solely with environmental issues.
Greenpeace activists at National Archaeological Museum November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Energy.Tags: athens, Electricity, Energy, Energy Savings, Greece, Greenpeace, National Archaeological Museum
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Greenpeace activists offer the National Archaeological Museum in central Athens a symbolic 2.3-meter light bulb yesterday as a means of raising awareness about the negative impact from the common household incandescent light bulb.
Incandescent light bulbs are blamed for massive energy losses and waste problems. They last for about a year and waste 95 percent of energy as heat, according to Greenpeace. By switching over to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), household power bills can be cut by around 15 percent.
Communication breakdown November 9, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Internet.Tags: Greece, Internet, Technology, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization
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Internet connection down for many users after works sever OTE cables
Much of the country was left without an Internet connection yesterday after construction works in the regions of Viotia and Corinth caused serious damage to fiberoptic cables.
The Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) attributed the problem to disruptive works but did not clarify that an OTE team had been at work on one of the sites. In both cases, the works damaged local cables, disabling OTE’s network in the two areas. Internet access was affected in other parts of the country too. Services were restored by late yesterday afternoon.
grhomeboy
