Latvia's Competition Council hit the Euroaptieka pharmacy chain with a 30,500 lat (43,397 euro) fine for violating the competition law when deciding to merge Daugavas Aptieka and Daldera Aptieka drugstores without informing the council. The council fined Euroaptieka, which is owned by Lithuania's Eurovaistiene, itself owned by the VP Market group, 14,100 lats for a complete buyout of Daldera Aptieka and another 16,400 lats for the complete buyout of Daugavas Aptieka.
The shipper Tallink is adding a fuel surcharge of 47 - 125 kroons (3-8 euros) to the price of tickets for trips beginning Jan. 15. The fuel surcharge will be 47 kroons for the Estonia-Finland line, 78 kroons for the Estonia-Sweden, Latvia-Sweden and Finland-Sweden lines, and 125 kroons for the Estonia-Finland-Germany service, the company said. World market prices of fuel have nearly doubled since January 2007 and, in addition to aviation companies, many international shipping firms have introduced a fuel surcharge, Tallink said.
Aero, a subsidiary of the Finnair that has ceased flights between Helsinki and Tallinn, said it would lay off 41 personnel. Rauno Menning, chairman of Estonia's airline pilots union, confirmed that up to 50 Estonian cabin crew or other service personnel could lose their jobs. The Helsinki-Tallinn flights that used to be operated by Aero will be taken over by Finnair's cooperation partner, the private-equity Finncomm Airlines. Aero will sell its remaining three ATR-72 aircraft to Russian carrier Utair.
Invalda, a major Lithuanian investment company, sold its two hotels 's Holiday Inn Vilnius and the Ecotel Vilnius 's to an unnamed buyer. Invalda said that it signed a deal to sell 100 percent of shares in the hotel operator Valmeda for an undisclosed price. "Hotel management has been a truly successful business area for the Invalda Group, but we are always on the lookout for possibilities for the optimum use of funds. Pulling out of certain businesses allows freeing up some funds and using them even more efficiently," Invalda President Darius Sulnis said in a statement.
