News archive of August 2020
New debt issues?
Analysts forecast that Greece might tap the bond market for as much as an extra 6 billion euros due to the hit that state revenue has taken from the coronavirus pandemic.
The most likely scenario is not for a new bond but for a reopening of one of the issues (a 15-year, 10-year and a 7-year bond) from earlier this year.
Finland takes in refugee minors from Greece
A group of 22 unaccompanied refugee minors flew to Finland from Greece on Monday while another 28 are also expected to depart for the northern European nation in the near future.
The Finnish government has agreed to receive a total of 100 unaccompanied minors as part of the European Union program to relocate 1,600 young refugees from Greece to countries of the 27-nation bloc.
Turkey issues new navtex for Oruc Reis in East Med
Turkey on Monday night issued a new navigational telex (Navtex) for the continuation of survey activities of its Oruc Reis vessel until September 12.
The navtex was the third renewal in a row for the vessel which has been moving between Greece and Cyprus for several weeks, prompting a flurry of diplomacy, and now warnings, by European Union officials for it to withdraw.
Local stocks end up on the month
The Athens Stock Exchange failed to hold on to early gains and ended slightly lower at the end of August's last session. Turnover more than doubled, but it was the result of auctions, in which investors liquidated their early gains.
The general index ended at the intra-session low of 633.98 points, a drop of 0.08%, after rising as much as 1.19%. Turnover was €60.11 million.
Chora church a ‘three-dimensional work of art’
Turkey's decision to convert the Byzantine Church of the Holy Savior in Chora in Istanbul, a UNESCO World Heritage site, into a mosque has again drawn wide condemnation, not least from Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who described the conversion of as an act of "symbolic violence." Robert G.