In Brief
Commissioner’s reply on Greek oil deposits leaves Euro-MP unhappy Greece ranks eighth in crude oil production in the EU, with 5,600 barrels a day from the Prinos field in the northern Aegean, meeting 1.4 percent of the country’s requirements, EU Energy Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said in reply to a question by New Democracy party Eurodeputy Yiannis Marinos. The country’s confirmed deposits total an estimated 10 million barrels. Marinos had asked whether the commissioner had at her disposal data or studies regarding oil deposits in Greece and the rest of the EU. In a statement issued in Brussels yesterday, he said, «It is curious that the Commission cites no data for 2001 and 2002, and does not seem to have carried out any study or research on the Union’s oil deposits itself, which why it cites data from the US Department of Energy.» In his question, Marinos said that Italian oceanographic vessel Urania discovered a large oil deposit near the island of Gavdos, south of Crete, early in 2002. Pioneering pollution monitoring system to be launched in Athens The first tests of a new satellite monitoring system for atmospheric quality control, financed by the European Commission, will be launched in Athens on October 15, according to a statement in Brussels. The new system, constructed through the program Icarus-Net, will monitor pollution by measuring the quantity of light obstructed by aerosoles, airborne fine particles. It is much cheaper than the traditional land-based systems. More tests will follow in Budapest, Munich and Lombardy in Italy. Icarus-Net was launched in September 2001 as part of the European Union’s planning for a global environmental control system, and is to run for three years. Matsushita A delegation of the Japanese conglomerate Matsushita – an international sponsor of the Olympic Games – yesterday visited the headquarters of Athens 2004, the Games organizers, for a briefing on preparations. Matsushita is the world’s 26th largest company, with a turnover of $51.7 billion in 2001. Coca-Cola Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company has received the Greek Standardization Organization (ELOT) certificates EN ISO 14001 for environmental management and OHSAS 18001 ELOT 1801 for Hygiene and Safety at Work for its three plants in Shimatari, north of Athens, Thessaloniki and Crete. Procedures are under way for the certification of the company’s seven other Greek production units. Call card Altec IT group subsidiary ACN has launched Talk Talk «scratch» card for low-cost calls from fixed-line telephones to mobiles and international destinations. The card comes in prices of 3 euros (green) and 9 euros (red) and instructions for use are provided in 10 languages. Users may log onto www.talktalk.gr for details about their credit, or call 0801.111.0000 at any time. Microsoft Microsoft plans to set up an information technology academy in Cyprus, aimed at upgrading, training and developing the software industry on the island, Cyprus Finance Minister Takis Clerides said after meeting the chairman of Microsoft Europe, Jean-Philippe Courtois, in Nicosia.
