Next Wednesday, in the presence of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Deputy Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, the Greek State and the contracting consortia will sign at the Ministry of Environment, the contracts for the exploration of hydrocarbon resources in three fields.

The European legislation in relation to licences for the rendering of transport services, the labour legislation in different countries, the headquarters of transport companies, etc. is not always properly applied, as admitted by European Commissioner Siim Kallas.

Neither the purpose nor the programme of this visit, which is of particular interest in view of the situation in Ukraine, is known so far.