Business in Brief

A month after Toyota announced its big recall, the company's Israeli importer, Union Motors, is starting to spend some money on its customers. Toyota owners who bring in their cars for the half-hour recall repairs are getting gifts such as vouchers for a meal or movie tickets. At first, Union Motors had planned to service leased cars at the location of each company's car fleet. But the Transportation Ministry nixed this idea, since the repairs require sophisticated diagnostic equipment. About 1,000 cars a day are being repaired, out of a total of 34,000. (Daniel Schmil)

Women who give birth at home will soon be eligible for "birth grants" from the National Insurance Institute, which until now has only paid them to women having babies in the hospital. The NII, which initiated the change, will still require both mother and baby to be examined by a doctor within 36 hours of the birth. The grant now stands at NIS 1,615 for a first birth, NIS 727 for a second and NIS 784 for every additional birth. The amounts are adjusted once a year based on inflation. In 2009, 800 women chose to give birth at home. (Haim Bior)

A South Korean defense contractor with Israeli ties was arrested last week on suspicion of tax evasion and other corruption charges, the Korea Times reported yesterday. Eugene Kim, CEO of Huneed Technologies, which develops communications equipment, is also suspected of leaking military secrets to foreign defense firms. Kim recently visited Israel and met with executives of Israel Aerospace Industries, among others, to discuss joint projects. It seems the meetings were connected to the $280 million radar contract IAI won last year. Accompanying Kim to the meeting was a senior Korean air force officer, even though military officers are banned from such business meetings. Kim also worked as an agent for Israeli companies in South Korea, including IAI. IAI responded that it conducts its business in both Israel and Korea according to the law. (Ora Coren)

Low-cost airline Germanwings, a Lufthansa subsidiary, is coming to Israel. The airline announced yesterday that it will start flights between Tel Aviv and Cologne on March 30. It will offer two weekly flights using Airbus A-319 planes with 140 seats. The Israel run will be Germanwings' first foray outside of Europe. The price will be 149 euros. For now, passengers can only book over the Internet. (Zohar Blumenkrantz)

A plane landing on Ben-Gurion Airport's "quiet runway" yesterday afternoon blew part of the roof off a home in nearby Bnei Atarot. No one was hurt, but the house was damaged. The owner filed a complaint with the Israel Airports Authority. The house is an old stone Templer building. The owner said it was lucky that no one was hurt by the falling roof tiles. The IAA said it was investigating. (Zohar Blumenkrantz)

Just one day after the cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ambitious, but trimmed, plan for changing the face of Israel's transportation network with new roads and rail lines, Netanyahu has restored the omitted trains to Eilat and Kiryat Shmona to the program. Netanyahu has ordered the two lines included in the planning, even if the actual construction is comes only after the present plan ends in 2020. (TheMarker)