Elliniko-Argyroupoli

At Lamda Development's extraordinary general meeting last week concerning the approval of a 650-million-euro share capital increase, the construction firm launched its mission to forge strategic partnerships for the development of the Elliniko plot in southern Athens.

Daytime temperatures in many parts of the country are expected to hit unseasonal highs of 30 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with the warmest weather forecast in eastern parts of the country and the Aegean islands, the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) said on Monday.

The Athens Urban Transport Organization (OASA) has introduced a number of changes to the capital's bus services in a bid to reduce operational costs.

Effective as of Monday, OASA will be shutting down a number of services that were found to have low passenger numbers.

Greece's Lamda Development hopes to secure all the necessary licences to start a huge development of luxury homes and offices at a disused airport site in Athens early next year, its top executive said on Thursday.
The former Elliniko airport, a sprawling site of disused runways, terminals and venues used for the Athens 2004 Olympics, has been abandoned for almost two decades.

The fourth and final ministerial decision regarding the seven "neighborhoods" of the Elliniko development has just been published in the Government Gazette, paving the way for the start of the project's implementation. The decision offers a glimpse of what those seven neighborhoods will look like.

The Infrastructure Ministry has ruled out the funding of any extension of the Attica ring road (Attiki Odos) through the extension of the current concession contract, as the operating consortium wants.

The ministry argues that any project related to the privately run highway will be included in the tender concerning the period after the expiry of the existing contract.

Lamda Development is close to sealing an agreement to open a major line of credit from foreign and domestic banks that will be used to finance the first phase of the Elliniko plot's development, Kathimerini understands. A share capital increase is also under consideration, without its timing, coverage or amount having been determined yet.

"At Elliniko we want to develop an integrated tourism and entertainment complex that will be much more than just a box with slot machines and gaming tables," explains Jim Allen, the president of Hard Rock International, which is pulling out all the stops in its bid for the license to develop and operate an integrated casino complex at Elliniko in southern Athens.

Police are investigating a cash-in-transit robbery that took place in the Athens suburb of Dafni early Wednesday.
Police said the security guard was held at gunpoint by two men as he was about to load an ATM machine on Vouliagmenis Avenue.
The suspects fled the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash.
No more information was immediately available about the incident.

The first of the three joint ministerial decisions that will fast-track the big investment project at Elliniko, the former site of the Athens airport, was published in the Government Gazette on Thursday.

It concerns the Metropolitan Park, which will cover an area of 200 hectares - about a quarter of the total - of which about 40 will be built.