Scandinavian Airlines offered 2,000 euros and two free economy class roundtrip tickets to any destination on the air carrier's schedule as compensation to the 48 passengers onboard the plane that crash-landed at Vilnius Airport on Sept. 12. The offer of two free tickets will remain in effect for one year. The company also promised to cover medical costs if the passengers prove that they suffered injuries from the crash landing. The airline, which controls airBaltic and Estonian Airlines, intends to seek compensation from plane manufacturer Bombardier for costs and lost revenue after the faulty landing gear on its Dash 8-400 planes forced SAS to ground its Dash fleet for three weeks.
The Pieno Zvaigzdes dairy denied media reports that it intends to buy Latvia's second-biggest dairy company, Valmieras Piens. Pieno Zvaigzdes said in a statement to the Vilnius Stock Exchange that it "was not and is not" in talks to acquire the Latvian company. Latvian media have reported that Pieno Zvaigzdes held talks on the possible acquisition, which was confirmed by a spokesman for Privato Aktivu Parvalde, the owner of the Valmiera dairy. Reportedly, Russia's dairy and juice maker Wimm-Bill-Dann is also interested in Valmieras Piens, which is owned by the family of former Latvian Prime Minister Andris Skele. Valmieras Piens posted sales of 32.5 million lats (46.2 million euros) in 2006, a 23 percent rise compared with 2005. Recently Skele was quoted as saying that Latvia's dairy market is too fragmented and needs to consolidate in order to compete on the EU market.
