Off the Wire

  • 2000-07-13
MORE BLACK GOLD TO BE PUMPED: Russia has increased its quota of oil for export to Lithuania for the third quarter. Exports to the Mazeikiu Nafta petroleum refinery will increase by 60,000 tons up to a total of 940,000 tons. The flow of Russian oil exports via Lithuania's oil terminal at Butinge will grow by 355,000 tons to a total of 820,000 tons over July-September. The companies Tatneft and Juganzkneftgaz will export additional oil via Butinge, some 265,000 and 90,000 tons, respectively.

MUMMY DEAREST: The Latvian Sea Medicine Center for the first time will study the only mummy in Latvia, which was brought to Riga 100 years ago by an unknown seaman. With the help of X-ray and computer topography, the center's specialists hope to define the approximate age of the mummy, the sex and some data about the mummification, center specialist Mara Etermane said. According to Etermane, the only thing about which the center specialists are sure is that there is a human inside the mummy.

BANK DIRECTOR KILLED: Director of Uhispank's Polva office Andres Vosoberg was found dead with a bullet wound July 4. Polva police prefect Elmar Nurmela said the police began criminal proceedings to investigate the case and must establish whether it was a suicide or a murder. According to the local newspaper, Koit, Vosoberg's body was found in his home.

HOT ON HEATING: The French firm Dalkia is prepared to begin negotiations with the Kaunas municipality again on leasing the Kauno Energija plant. Last week Kaunas Mayor Vytautas Sustauskas received a letter from Dalkia's president for Central and Eastern Europe, Marco Boudier, reaffirming Dalkia's intention to lease Kauno Energija. Support for the preparation of negotiations has risen. The parties are discussing a schedule of further undertakings, Andreas Greimas, head of the Dalkia negotiating group, commented after the meeting.

EMBASSY REPRESENTATIVE IN CAR ACCIDENT: A Chevrolet involved in a road accident July 10 in Riga was registered to a U.S. Embassy official, the police reported. Alongside the Chevrolet, owned by U.S. Embassy to Latvia representative Andris Pentjuss, an Audi 90 was also involved in the accident. The vehicles ran into each other in the intersection, but no people were injured in the accident and the damage to cars was minor. The police have not been able to establish which of the drivers violated traffic rules and caused the accident, because the two men gave conflicting statements.

FLOATING PLEASURE PALACE VISITS TALLINN: The biggest cruise ship to have ever sailed on the Baltic Sea, the Millennium, docked in Tallinn's Old Port early on July 10. The ship, which is sailing under the Liberian flag, is 294 meters long and 32.3 meters wide and takes on up to 2,450 passengers. The Millennium, which is on its maiden voyage, arrived from St. Petersburg and will go on to Gdynia, Poland, a representative of the Port of Tallinn said.

MORE FLY TO LITHUANIA: Beleaguered Lithuanian Airlines flew a record number of passengers in May and June of 2000. On regular routes, LAL flew 48 percent more people in May and 30 percent more in June as opposed to the same months of the previous year. Airplanes on some routes were filled to 100 percent capacity. LAL hasn't seen that kind of demand in seven years - a direct result of a revival in Lithuania's economic fortunes, according to the daily Lietuvos Rytas. LAL general director Kestutis Auryla said the increase is due to the country's improving economy and more business travel.

NEEDLE IN A HAY STACK: The Latvian Prosecutor General's Office has approved a week-long extension of a business trip to Russia for the prosecutor studying Moscow archives for any materials about Nazi war crime and genocide suspect Latvian-born Australian resident Konrads Kalejs. High Prosecutor Rudite Abolina from the prosecutor's office said July 10 that Prosecutor Laima Muceniece was allowed to stay in Russia for one more week. Abolina refused to say whether the Latvian prosecutor had already turned up something in the Russian archives that the prosecution could use against Kalejs. The outcome of the search will become known only upon Muceniece's return to Latvia.

BRITS OFFER POLICE EDUCATION: Britain will offer courses for instructors and lecturers of Estonian police college, officials of the Home Office, visiting Estonian Interior Minister Tarmo Loodus agreed during a meeting in London on July 7. The British will advise Estonia on reorganization of police training. Cooperation is also being planned in efforts to curb the spread of illegal drugs, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said in Tallinn.