The new government (From September 19 2007)

[Ellinas]

Prime Minister
Kostas Karamanlis

Minister of State
Theodoros Roussopoulos

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Dora Bakogianni
Vice-ministers: Giannis Valinakis, Theodoros Kassimis, Petros Doukas

Minister of the Interior
Prokopios Pavlopoulos
Vice-ministers: Panagiotis Chinofotis, Christos Zois, Athanasios Nakos

Minister of National Defense
Evangelos Meimarakis
Vice-ministers: Kostas Tasoulas, Ioannis Plakiotakis

Minister of Employment
Vaseilios Manginas
Vice-minister: Sofia Kalantzakou

Minister of Economics
Georgios Alogoskoufis
Vice-ministers: Antonios Bezas, G. Papathanasiou, Nikos Legas

Minister of Development
Christos Folias
Vice-ministers: Georgios Vlachos, Stavros Kalafatis

Minister of Rural Development and Vivers
Alexandros Kontos
Vice-minister: Kostas Kiltides

Minister of Justice
Sotirios Chatzigakis

Minister of Marine and Insular Policy
Georgios Voulgarakis
Vice-minister: Panos Kammenos

Minister of Transportation and Communications
Kostas Chatzidakis

Minister of National Education and Religions
Euripides Stylianides
Vice-ministers: Spyros Taliadouros, Andreas Lykourentzos

Minister of Environment, Land Planning and Public Works
Georgios Souflias
Vice-ministers: Themistokles Xanthopoulos, St. Kalogiannis

Minister of Macedonia and Thrace
Margaritis Tzimas

Minister of Health
Dimitrios Avramopoulos
Vice-ministers: Georgios Papageorgiou, G. Konstantopoulos

Minister of Tourist Development
Aris Speliotopoulos

Minister of Culture
Michalis Liapis
Vice-minister of sports: Ioannis Ioannides

Dimitrios Sioufas is proposed as President of the Parliament.

The new government will vow on Wednesday in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic.

[Ellinas]

The vow took place yesterday.

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[Ellinas]

PM, environment ministry leadership outline priorities

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Friday met the minister and deputy ministers of the Environment, Town Planning and Public Works ministry to discuss the top priorities in these areas in the next four years.

In statements after their meeting, Minister George Souflias stressed that public works would figure prominently in the ministry's activities, with a massive -- by Greek standards -- programme due to begin in the autumn, which he said would "turn Greece into a large construction site".
According to Souflias, works worth an estimated 17.5 billion euros had been awarded through tenders in the past 3.5 years, more than in the past two decades, while studies for works to be included in the 4th Community Support Framework (CSF) had begun in 2005.

The minister also pointed out that 4.5 billion euros were available under the 4th CSF for environmental projects, the same amount as for infrastructure projects, and stressed that this had not been the case in the past when the budget was biased in favour of public works. Included in this sum was 180 million euros for protected areas.


Other priorities listed by the minister were completing the legislative framework for spatial planning for the entire country and ensuring that the land register covered 2/3 of the Greek population by 2010.

On environmental issues, he pointed out that the government had increased rates of recycling to 22 percent from 6 percent when it took over and had introduced measures to combat climate change and waste water treatment.

Another priority was to begin the construction a metropolitan park at the Helliniko site in coastal Athens, he added.

Souflias repeated that the ministry was determined not to allow development that was not allowed in NATURA areas to be carried out on burnt land at the Kaiafa site in the Peloponnese, donated to the fire-ravaged municipality of Zaharo.

He repeated his objections to the creation of a separate environment ministry at the present phase, noting that the environment was better served when the ministry was combined with that for public works, while noting that the same issue could be raised again in three years time when the works under the 3rd CSF were finished and those under the 4th CSF were beginning.


ANA