In Brief
Finance Ministry certain budget shortfall will be temporary Budget revenues rose 2.2 percent to 8.25 billion euros in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, against an annual target of 6.1 percent, Deputy Finance Minister Apostolos Fotiadis said yesterday. However, he expressed confidence that the target will be fully attained in the current quarter, attributing the the slower pace so far to the fact certain categories of revenue were received late in 2001 (car circulation tax), to the abolition of stamp duty and the special banking transactions tax, and to income and company tax reductions introduced this year. He said a campaign to counter the use of bogus trade invoices will be launched immediately. Further, he said the current three-year drive to modernize the country’s customs facilities in view of the 2004 Olympics included the creation in Attica and Thessaloniki of the post of Customs Consultants, who will advise citizens and enterprises. The measures also include a new uniform for officials. Minister optimistic about OA’s prospects Transport and Communications Minister Christos Verelis expressed his optimism yesterday that despite past failed privatization attempts, Olympic Airways (OA) will be able to attract private capital if the hesitant recovery in the air transport sector materializes, and will be in a position to operate this summer. «OA has made very large cost cuts and managed to stabilize its finances,» he said in an interview with Sky radio station. Fur exhibition The 27th International Fur Exhibition, taking place in Kastoria April 12-15, is hosting 80 exhibiters from Greece, Italy, the US, France and Spain. At a press conference in Thessaloniki yesterday, the Kastoria Furriers Association called for state support to stem the decline of the sector, which has shrunk by about half in the last ten years, while employees have dwindled to just 2,500 from 17,000 15 years ago. Furriers have accumulated debts of about 67.5 million euros (23 billion drachmas) and hope for debt rescheduling. The event will be inaugurated on Thursday, at 6 p.m. Sweet talk Publicly owned Hellenic Sugar Industry (EBZ) has renewed its interest in a possible acquisition in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Macedonia-Thrace Minister Giorgos Paschalidis, who visited FYROM last week, discussed the issue with Economics Minister Nikola Gruevski and local businessmen. EBZ exported 16,000 tons of sugar to FYROM in 2001 and supplied 20,000 tons of molasses to a sugar factory in Bitola. Germanos in Romania Germanos Telecom Romania, a subsidiary of IT and mobile telephony retailer Germanos, has agreed with the country’s national telecom utility, Romtelecom, to distribute fixed-line products, including ISDN facilities, toll-free lines (0800-) and prepaid Internet cards. The subsidiary, with 43 outlets in Romania, already has a similar agreement with Cosmrom, Romtelecom’s mobile subsidiary. The agreement also provides for a joint advertising campaign.
