His only comfort was that the plane had been inspected for two days while grounded in Riga. All turned out well as we each reached our destinations without incident. The final destination of our trip was Lithuania. The city of Vilniaus appears less developed than the other two capital cities. The effects of the Soviet occupation are evident everywhere.
Many buildings are bland, old and dirty.
There are a number of beautiful church buildings in the Old Town section that have survived the past however. Lithuania led the movement for independence in the Baltics in 1990 but its economic reforms lagged the others. Inflation remained high straight through 1996. In December 1995, a banking crisis lead to the two largest banks, Litimpex and Innovation Bank, closing along with seven other smaller banks. When this occurred, not all deposits were covered by the government thus leading to a lack of confidence in the banking system.