A partnership agreement regarding the materialization of the project ?establishment of a capital market in Serbia? was signed on June 19, 2002 in Belgrade between the Athens Stock Exchange and the Belgrade Stock Exchange.

The agreement is incorporated in the memorandum of cooperation, which had been signed by the Governments of the two countries and the project, which it regards, is expected to be completed at the end of the current year.

The Athens Stock Exchange and the Belgrade Stock Exchange started their cooperation at the end of the year 2000 with a number of actions, such as the singing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Stock Exchanges, the organizing of a meeting in Belgrade, the provisions of training to executives and members of the Belgrade Stock Exchange by the Athens Stock Exchange, the drawing up of a Project Plan regarding the Development of the Serbian Capital Market.

Following the above, a relevant agreement was signed between the two counties in December 2001, which is incorporated in the frame of the Plan for the Developmental Aid and Cooperation of Greece and regards the materialization of the project ?Establishment of a Capital Market on the Belgrade Stock Exchange?. The project will be financed with Euro 1.8 million.

In the frame of the project ?Establishment of a Capital Market on the Belgrade Stock Exchange?, the following will be materialized:

• Installation of the OASIS trading system and other peripheral ? support systems at the Belgrade Stock Exchange for the carrying out of trading in the market of Serbia.
• Provision of Advisory Services to the Belgrade Stock Exchange regarding the elaboration of a Statutory and Regulatory framework for the operation of the capital market in Serbia.

The project will be materialized by the Athens Stock Exchange and ASYK S.A. (System Development and Support House of Capital Market S.A.), a member of HELLENIC EXCHANGES HOLDING S.A., which supports the Greek capital market on Information Technology and Financial issues.

The completion of the specific project and given the fact that the two markets, i.e. of Greece and Serbia, will operate common information systems regarding the support of trading, as well as a compatible regulatory framework, will have the following results:

• Very close cooperation or even homogenization of the markets of Greece and Serbia.
• Possibility of the expansion of the activities of the agencies of the Greek market, such as securities companies and underwriters in Serbia.
• The objective of the Athens Stock Exchange is the further extension of the cooperation with the Belgrade Stock Exchange with the participation of other countries of the region as well, aiming at the integration ? consolidation of the Balkan markets.

The agreement, which was signed on June 19, 2002 and regards the materialization of the project, was attended by Mr. B. Delic, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Serbia and other Serbian officials on behalf of Serbia and the President of the Athens Stock Exchange, Mr. P. Alexakis, the Greek ambassador in Belgrade, Mr. M. Spinellis, and the Consultant for Economic and Commercial Affairs of our embassy, Mr. L. Papakonstandinidis, on behalf of Greece.