November 6, 1958
ATHENS HILTON: The construction of a Hilton Hotel in Athens is once more in the news. The Hilton was to be built according to a plan providing for 300 rooms. However, in keeping with a later design, it is now to have 480 rooms. On the basis of that second plan, the hotel would cost about $5 million, of which $2.5 million would be in the form of a loan from the Economic Development Funding Organization (OXOA). The new design for a hotel of 480 rooms will cost $7.5-8 million, and the Hilton Group is asking OXOA for an additional loan of $1 million. STATE OIL REFINERY: King Pavlos inaugurated the first state oil refinery at Aspropyrgos yesterday, an industrial plant that is expected to make a major contribution to the country’s economic growth. The refinery is estimated to be able to process 1.3 million tons of crude oil each year, with the potential for a total 1.5 million tons, and will meet all the country’s requirements for petroleum products. The minister for industry said the refinery was the country’s largest industrial plant and would put $11 million into the state coffers every year. Greece had been the only European country that did not have an oil refinery, he added.
