Lietuva in brief - 2007-09-26

  • 2007-09-26
Archeologists excavating in the city of Panevezys have uncovered the remains of victims of a massacre. On Sept. 20 diggers discovered the bones of seven people, including the skull of s child. "Before starting the excavations, we had suspicions that there might be people buried in this place. Yet the picture we saw just shocked us," a Ministry of Culture official told the Panevezio Rytas newspaper. However the excavation may be halted due to a lack of funds. Panevezys is listed as a site of Jewish massacres during the years of Nazi occupation.

The Scandanavian Airlines SAS plane that made an emergency landing at Vilnius Airport on Sept. 12 suffered the same defect as as its sister plane in Denmark earlier this month. An investigation team found the Danish accident on Sept. 9 was caused by the corrosion of the hydraulic cylinder that unfolds the chasis on Dash 8-400 planes. Further inspection found corrosion on the landing gear on 25 of 27 of the SAS Dash 8-400 fleet, the Ritzau Bureau newswire reported. The accidents caused airlines across the world to temporarily ground their fleets.

Lawyers will attempt to grab hold of property in Poland owned by the Kaliningrad administration to recover unpaid debts. In late 2006, a building in central Vilnius was auctioned to recover a 20.3 million euro debt owed by the Kaliningrad administration to the Duke Investment group. A London court of arbitration asked Lithuanian authorities to seize any property of the Russian exclave government, including automobiles, aircraft and property. On Sept. 24, Lithuanian law office Nordia Baublys & Partners, representing the plaintiffs, asked a Warsaw court for permission to execute an order to search for Kaliningrad property in Poland to be sold by auction.

Lithuanian residents who want to test their knowledge of the Constitution will have their first exam on Sept. 29. Every participant will be awarded a special gift, a copy of the Lithuanian Constitution signed by President Valdas Adamkus. After the one-hour exam expires, the correct answers will be seen on the Internet and used by jury members to score the results. All municipalities across the country are participating in the event. The exam is dedicated o celebrating 15 years of the Lithuanian Constitution.

A sharp increase in the cost of Lithuanian dairy products sparked an anonymous Internet announcement calling for a boycott on Sept. 25. The announcement asked consumers to limit their purchase and consumption of dairy products in order to force companies to lower their prices. The head of Pieno Zvaigzdes, one of the largest milk producers, said the boycott would not force any changes, and that price increases were a result of changes on the global market. Another 12 percent increase is forecast during October.

The new passenger terminal at Vilnius Airport is nearing completion. The three-storey 100 million litas terminal will welcome its first passengers in mid-October. The terminal will be able to handle 3.5 million passengers per year.