EUR 815 million support for transport and energy in Greece

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing up to EUR 815 million for motorways, the Thessaloniki metro and an improved electricity transmission network in Greece.

In the presence of EIB President Werner Hoyer, five finance agreements were signed today in Athens in a public ceremony by the EIB Vice-President responsible for Greece, Mihai Tanasescu, the Minister of Finance Gikas Hardouvelis, the Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks, Michalis Chrysohoidis, the Chairman and Managing Director of Attiko Metro Christos Tsitouras, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Greek Public Power Corporation S.A. Arthouros Zervos, and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Greek Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO) Yiannis Yiarentis. The ceremony was attended also by Minister of Environment, Energy & Climate Change Yannis Maniatis.


On this occasion, EIB President Werner Hoyer stated: “With this strong shot we continue our support for growth and jobs in Greece. We concentrate on key sectors and help the Greek State to proceed with the construction of the country’s major motorways and the Thessaloniki metro to improve the citizens’ living and economic conditions. We also contribute to realise the electricity interconnection of the Cyclades islands, a long awaited project in Greece. This investment boosts tourism, by putting an end to the blackout risks of the past. All five projects will create jobs during construction and after, through commissioning, and will have further positive spillover effects in the regional and national environment, economy and living conditions”.

EUR 300 million to the Hellenic Republic for the Greek motorway programme
The EIB loan will be supporting the State’s financial commitments to the country’s main transport corridor (Patras-Athens-Thessaloniki), which is also a trans-European priority transport investment. The loan will finance the construction of 239 km of new motorways and smaller upgrades on 434 km of existing motorways located along this main axis. This is the second and last tranche of the EIB facility of a total of EUR 650 million for the resumption of construction works on Greek motorways which, considering their strong impact on employment and GDP growth, play a special role in revitalising the Greek economy.

EUR 200 million in further support of the Thessaloniki metro
The Thessaloniki Metro project has been the focus of the Greek State’s strategy for providing an efficient and effective public transport system in metropolitan Thessaloniki, in parallel with the ongoing extensions of the Athens metro network. As such, it has been supported by the Greek State, the European Union through EU grants and the EIB. This essential public service project represents one of the most important areas of EIB value-added activity, as the EU Bank’s ability to provide long-term financing perfectly matches the long-term nature and requirements of the infrastructure provided. The EIB is already partially financing the Thessaloniki metro baseline, with previous loans totaling EUR 650 million, and the finance agreement signed today provides additional support for the network’s extension to the area of Kalamaria.

EUR 180 million for improved electricity network

The signature of EUR 180 million loan is the second and final tranche of a EUR 415 million facility to the Greek Public Power Corporation S.A. (PPC), for renovating and reinforcing the electricity distribution network, as well as extending it to enable some 186 000 new connections throughout peninsular and insular Greece.

The investment programme will benefit consumers and suppliers by improving the electricity distribution infrastructure and increasing the effectiveness of electricity supply in meeting demand.

The promoter of the project is the Hellenic Electricity Distribution Network Operator S.A. (HEDNO), a 100% subsidiary of PPC created in 2012.  

EUR 135 million for improved electricity transmission and interconnection of Cyclades
The funding to the Greek Independent Power Transmission Operator (IPTO or ADMIE) consists of two loans aiming at improved electricity transmission and the interconnection of the Cyclades islands to the mainland network.
The signature of EUR 70 million is the first tranche of a EUR 140 million facility to support the company’s current on-going power transmission investment programme. This includes the construction of the Megalopoli Extra High Voltage Station, the interconnection of Nea Makri (Attica mainland) to Polypotamos (island of Evia), and a cluster of smaller transmission schemes.  The loan is expected to support the integration of new generation resources into the grid, including renewable energy, to extend transmission capacity and contribute to improving the reliability of supply.
The signature of EUR 65 million is the first tranche of a EUR 130 million facility to support the connection of the main Cycladic islands Syros, Tinos, Mykonos and Paros with the mainland interconnected system of Greece. The interconnection will be effected through a subsea cable grid operated at 150 kV. The project will substitute the local generation run on fuel oil with energy produced by far cheaper and less polluting stations operated in the mainland system. It will also support the development of additional wind and solar generation capacity that on the islands, which in the currently isolated configuration is restricted for technical reasons.
http://www.eib.org/infocentre/press/releases/all/2014/2014-195-eur-815-million-support-for-transport-and-energy-in-greece.htm?media=rss&language=en
18/9/14

Greece unearths two sculpted female figures in major discovery / Συνέχιση ανασκαφικών εργασιών στον Τύμβο Καστά στην Αμφίπολη

Photo: yppo.gr

Archaeologists have unearthed two sculpted female figures, known as Caryatids, as they slowly make their way into an ancient tomb recently discovered in Greece's northeast, the country's culture ministry said....

They mark a significant new finding in the tomb on the Amphipolis site, about 100 km from Greece's second-biggest city Thessaloniki, which archaeologists have hailed as a major discovery from the era of Alexander the Great.


The figures made of Greek marble were unearthed on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. The Caryatids, with thick curls covering their shoulders, support an inner entrance into the tomb and feature the same sculpting technique used for the heads and wings of two sphinxes found guarding the main entrance of the tomb in August, according to the statement.
"The structure of the second entrance with the Caryatids is an important finding, which supports the view that it is a prominent monument of great importance," the Culture Ministry said.
The face of one of the Caryatids is missing, while both figures have one hand outstretched in a symbolic move to push away anyone who would try to violate the tomb.
Archaeologists have said that the Amphipolis site appeared to be the largest ancient tomb to have been discovered in Greece.
Excavations, which began in 2012, have not yet determined who was buried in the tomb but culture ministry officials have said that the monument appeared to belong to a prominent Macedonian from the 300-325 B.C. era.
 http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/169138/greece-unearths-two-sculpted-female-figures-in-major-discovery
7/9/14
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• Συνέχιση ανασκαφικών εργασιών στον Τύμβο Καστά στην Αμφίπολη-Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού (Δελτίo Τύπου)

.....Το Σάββατο 6 Σεπτεμβρίου, η αφαίρεση του χώματος μπροστά από το επιστύλιο, επέτρεψε την σοβαρή ενίσχυση της υποστύλωσης του θραυσμένου τμήματος του, με κατακόρυφες σωληνωτές δοκούς, σε ξύλινη επαφή. 

Με την αφαίρεση των αμμωδών χωμάτων, στο χώρο μπροστά από τον δεύτερο διαφραγματικό τοίχο, αποκαλύφθηκαν κάτω από το μαρμάρινο επιστύλιο, ανάμεσα στις, επίσης, μαρμάρινες παραστάδες, δύο εξαιρετικής τέχνης καρυάτιδες , από θασίτικο μάρμαρο (φωτο 6) συμφυείς με πεσσό, διατομής 0,20Χ0,60 μ. 

Το πρόσωπο της δυτικής καρυάτιδας σώζεται σχεδόν ακέραιο,(φωτο 7,8 ), ενώ από την ανατολική λείπει.(φωτο 9). Οι καρυάτιδες έχουν πλούσιους βοστρύχους, που καλύπτουν τους ώμους τους, φέρουν ενώτια, και φορούν χειριδωτό χιτώνα. Το δεξί χέρι της μιας και το αριστερό της άλλης ήταν προτεταμμένα, ώστε με την κίνηση τους να αποτρέπουν συμβολικά εκείνους οι οποίοι θα επιχειρούσαν την είσοδο στον τάφο και ήταν ένθετα. Ακολουθείται, δηλαδή, η ίδια τεχνική, όπως στις κεφαλές και στα φτερά των Σφιγγών. Οι μορφές, επί των οποίων σώζονται ίχνη κόκκινου και μπλε χρώματος, παραπέμπουν στον τύπο της Κόρης. Ανάμεσα στα αμμώδη χώματα βρέθηκαν θραύσματα των γλυπτών, όπως τμήμα παλάμης και μικρότερα θραύσματα από τα δάκτυλα τους. Η διάταξη της δεύτερης εισόδου με τις καρυάτιδες αποτελεί σημαντικό εύρημα, το οποίο συνηγορεί στην άποψη ότι πρόκειται για εξέχον μνημείο, ιδιαίτερης σπουδαιότητας. 

Μπροστά από τις καρυάτιδες, και από το ύψος της μέσης τους και κάτω, αποκαλύπτεται τοίχος σφράγισης από πωρόλιθους σε όλο το πλάτος των 4,5μ. ( φωτο 10, 11) Πρόκειται για δεύτερο τοίχο σφράγισης που ακολουθεί την ίδια τεχνική, όπως και στην πρόσοψη του ταφικού μνημείου. Είναι ένα ακόμη χαρακτηριστικό της προσπάθειας των κατασκευαστών για την αποτροπή εισόδου στο μνημείο...............................http://www.yppo.gr/2/g22.jsp?obj_id=58312
7/9/14
 

Less is More: We Need a Global Strategy to End Fishing Overcapacity

The global ocean, from the coast to the high seas, is facing multiple threats. We rely on the ocean for food, for transport, for the very air we breathe, but the current systems in place for governing and managing its resources are not fit for purpose. As a result, fish stocks are being depleted, rich biodiversity is at risk and illegal fishing vessels threaten the food security of whole nations. It is our economies that suffer -- depletion of fish stocks alone costs the global economy an estimated $50 billion per year.

The root of the problem is fishing overcapacity: too many boats chasing too few fish. Most problematic are the thousands of powerful, modern boats, equipped with high-tech tools able to find fish almost anywhere. But the more fish these boats take out, the fewer fish there are that can reproduce, and the more fishers must turn to potent tools to find them.

To break this vicious circle, since the 1990s the EU has shifted away from expanding the EU fishing fleet and is instead focusing support in the opposite direction -- adapting it to natural resources. The EU's fleet has been reduced by 25 percent since 2000.

Fishing less can be economically smarter. Reducing pressure on fish populations enables them to recover and thrive, making fishing easier and increasing the industry's profits as well as the welfare of coastal communities. Europe badly needs smart economics like this right now, just as it needs a stable supply of fresh and healthy seafood. Globally, with 83 percent of high seas fishing being carried out by developed countries, the principle of the freedom of the high seas is manifestly inequitable.

Of course, scrapping fishing vessels is not the only, or even the best, way to reduce capacity. The solution must be a well-designed mix of structural and conservation tools, rights-based management systems, tighter controls and, especially, incentives for diversification. After all, boats that go out fishing can also go out collecting litter or be put to good use for tourism.

Nor can overcapacity be reversed without specifically dealing with the vast subsidies that have driven it -- both globally and in the EU. Global fisheries subsidies are estimated at approximately $35 billion a year, over $20 billion of which are capacity-enhancing. Without this distortion, many fishing enterprises would simply not be profitable, and other industries and jobs would emerge in their stead.

The recent reform of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy addresses all these issues and will help eradicate the remaining pockets of overcapacity in the European fleet. Subsidies have been redesigned to promote sustainable fisheries and prohibit any support that risks increasing capacity. The reform will also ensure that when European vessels fish outside EU waters they only fish within scientifically safe margins and only after the needs of nearby coastal state fleets have been met.

The EU is putting a stop to fishing overcapacity. Now this needs to happen at a global level. To achieve the right balance between fishing power and natural resources, all global actors need to pull together. International rules and processes exist but -- all too often -- only on paper and not in practice. These glaring gaps in ocean governance, especially on the high seas, were the motivation behind the creation of the Global Ocean Commission in 2013.

Some battles are being won, with annual quotas and capacity limits for Bluefin tuna in the Atlantic and Mediterranean now set in accordance with scientific advice, or the capacity freeze on tropical tunas in the Pacific. Other struggles persist, such as monitoring better compliance. With a third of all commercial fish stocks over-exploited and a further half fully exploited, it is disheartening to watch while some nations still heavily subsidize their vessel and processing capacity or continue to expand their fleets.

There is no shortage of rules and guidance: we have an FAO International Plan of Action on overcapacity; we have joint recommendations by regional organisations managing tuna on how to reduce and transfer capacity; and the World Trade Organization also has a mandate to negotiate rules to prevent harmful subsidies. But we badly need a stronger political thrust for these plans to be systematically enforced, for words on paper to be translated into action. The Global Ocean Commission is currently developing a set of cost-effective, pragmatic and politically feasible proposals for strengthening ocean governance and enforcement, and building a coalition able to act on them.

Action means using advanced technology to assess and monitor worldwide capacity, like a global record of all vessels based on a mandatory single system of vessel identification; it means official agreements and systems for enforcement able to impose strict sanctions; it can also mean voluntary and joint efforts by major fishing nations like the ones set up to combat illegal fishing.

Above all, we need a coherent and global approach to ocean governance and management that also encompasses development and trade policy.

It is high time the world addressed excessive global fishing power. This is why the European Commission is inviting Fisheries Ministers from around the globe to meet in Thessaloniki on 13 and 14 March 2014: to ride the momentum of the reforms in the EU and drive the international debate forward. Let's work together to make both our ecosystems and our economies sustainable.
 http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/damanaki/less-is-more-we-need-a-global-strategy-to-end-fishing-overcapacity/
13/3/14
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Related:
 

• Alaska mine could be blocked to save salmon fisheries

• Kίνδυνος αφανισμού ψαριών

• Απορριπτόμενα αλιεύματα: ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα εγκλήματα των θαλασσών.

• Αλιεία βαθέων υδάτων: το Κοινοβούλιο ζητεί την απαγόρευση της αλιείας με τράτες βυθού σε ευάλωτες περιοχές

• Σε κίνδυνο το 65% - 70% των αλιευμάτων στην Ελλάδα 

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Russian Railways look at Greek transportation assets

Photo: RIA Novosti / Mihail Mokrushin

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Russian Railways (RZD) is seeking to acquire one of the key Greek ports and two transportation assets for an estimated €140 million. The deal would suit the company's plan to invest more into the European market.
RZD wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking for permission to take part in the privatization of the port of Thessaloniki, as well as the country’s sole railway services provider TRAINOSE and the Rolling Stock & Railroad Maintenance Company ROSCO, says Kommersant daily.

Vladimir Yakunin, RZD head, said he had already received preliminary pricing for the assets from the Greek Ministries. The Thessaloniki port is estimated at €100 million, with the price tag for TRAINOSE of at least €30  million, and ROSCO likely to cost €10 million.

Given the strategic role the acquisition would play for Russia’s plans to expand into Europe, RZD hopes that the Russian state would finance the deal. Russian Railways also says it’s ready to bid for the Greek assets in a consortium with a foreign partner. Railways of France (Réseau Ferré de France) is one of the possible options.

The selection of bidders in the privatization of Greek assets may start this month. Companies from China, France and some of the Arab states are among the other suitors.

Vladimir Yakunin says RZD needs to diversify and turn into a transportation and logistics company, with the acquisition perfectly suiting the strategy.

“RZD has a unique opportunity to unite railway and port projects in Greece with its Serbian projects on infrastructure development that are underway. The monopoly also gets a special chance to use the potential of the acquired logistics company GEFCO to increase transportation volumes in the corresponding transport corridor,” Vladimir Yakunin said.
 
Should Russian Railway become more of a logistics company its cargo business could more than double to $180.6 billion.

Russian Railway has been showing interest in Greek assets for more than a year, with the companies chief stressing that “the company can’t realize such projects without the government’s consent.” 
 http://rt.com
5/6/13
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Related:

• Το μπαλάκι στην Κομισιόν για την πώληση της ΤΡΑΙΝΟΣΕ.... Η προίκα για την ιδιωτικοποίηση της εταιρείας και η γεωπολιτική σκακιέρα

• Στο λιμάνι του Πειραιά, στο σιδηροδρομικό δίκτυο της χώρας και στο «Ελ. Βενιζέλος» εστιάζει το ενδιαφέρον της η Κίνα

 

Σεισμική δόνηση 4,6 Ρίχτερ στη Χαλκιδική

Σεισμική δόνηση μεγέθους 4,6 βαθμών της κλίμακας Ρίχτερ σημειώθηκε λίγο πριν τις 17.00 στη Χαλκιδική. 

Σύμφωνα με το Γεωδυναμικό Ινστιτούτο, το επίκεντρο του σεισμού εντοπίζεται 4,6 χλμ. δυτικά – βορειοδυτικά του Άθου(Άγιο Όρος).

Ο σεισμός έγινε αισθητός στη Θεσσαλονίκη και σε άλλους νομούς της Κεντρικής Μακεδονίας, ενώ δεν έχουν αναφερθεί ζημιές.

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Magnitude Mw 4.6 Region GREECE Date time 2013-02-15 14:42:55.0 UTC Location 40.33 N ; 23.93 E Depth 9 km Distances 262 km N Athens (pop 729,137 ; local time 16:42:55.0 2013-02-15) 91 km E Thessaloníki (pop 354,290 ; local time 16:42:55.0 2013-02-15) 79 km SW Kavála (pop 59,240 ; local time 16:42:55.0 2013-02-15) 4 km W Ouranópolis (pop 1,047 ; local time 16:42:55.0 2013-02-15)

Source parameters provided by another agency

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eco-r (EMSC - Last 50 earthquakes worldwide)

Thessaloniki Port opens second phase of marina tender

AMNA/ Thessaloniki Port Authority on Monday invited two business groups to submit binding bids in a tender to build and operate a new marina project, budgeted at 11.3 million euros. 

 

A port statement said that Lamda Development and a joint venture led by Aktor (also including Akte-Vega, Cosmos Yachting and Marina Kroslin GmbH) qualified for the second phase of bidding and can submit their offers by mid-October.

Under the terms of the tender, the new marina will have 218 berths and it is expected to be completed in three years. The concession to operate the marina will be for at least 30 years and will help to boost tourism at the port.
express gr
31/7/2012

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• Θεσσαλονίκη: Στα σκαριά μαρίνα αναψυχής στην Α΄ προβλήτα