Last elves fired from Santa's Finland HQ
Published:
18 April 2004 y., Sunday
The last three worker elves at Father Christmas's official headquarters in Finland's Arctic have been fired as Santa Park grapples with its finances.
Lack of visitors has meant that the number of Santa's little helpers is now down to two, a far cry from plans to employ 120 staff on a monthly wage when the park opened.
About 800km north of Helsinki, this is where letters addressed just 'To Santa' arrive. The elves were supposed to help Santa and guide visitors around the park.
During these five years (Santa Park) has been able to employ a fraction of the 120 staff for a maximum of three months (a year), usually for about eight weeks," Rajala said, adding the sacked elves had been on temporary leave since last August.
Santa Park made its first operating profit last year, but the company's bottom line remained in the red as it still has annual costs of about Ђ400 000 (a$492,700) related to the initial construction of the park to pay for the next 15 years.
Šaltinis:
iol.co.za
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have completed their parliamentary elections according to schedule, despite the American prognosis that Central Asia is ripe for revolution
more »
Russian security service paid $10 million for information leading to Maskhadov's killing
more »
When Poland and six other former communist countries entered the European Union last year, many feared they would lose their most talented and skilled denizens to Britain, Ireland and Sweden
more »
When Poland and six other former communist countries entered the EU last year, many feared they would lose their most talented and skilled denizens to Britain, Ireland and Sweden
more »
Russia says Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed today in a gun battle with federal forces in the Chechen village of Tolstoi-Yurt
more »
Macedonian citizens are worried the most about socio-economic problems, such as unemployment, poverty and corruption
more »
Moldova's Communist Party has retained its dominant position after parliamentary elections, according to an independent exit poll released after voting stations closed
more »
The former interior minister was found dead in his home Friday, an apparent suicide
more »
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has welcomed a decision by the Turkmen parliament to pass legislation banning child labour and guaranteeing freedom from economic exploitation as a right of children
more »
Latvian Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis believes prominent Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky's arrival in Latvia is "a legal, rather than political issue"
more »