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An integration
of reason
Dear
readers,
The most
heated debate in the Baltic community is often still centered around
integration - integration in the broadest meaning of the word.
Political
and economic integration is all about European Union (EU) and NATO membership
for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The political elite of the Baltic
states would be ready to join both these organizations in the blink
of an eye, but various opinion polls show that the general public is
not yet all too ready for another radical turn in their lives. No more
than half of the Baltic population supports EU and NATO accession.
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A
new turn.
The
Baltic states look eastward again
Stagnation
of the Western economy amid Russian economic growth and the proximity
of EU accession have been good reasons for a new wave of Baltic businessmen
to broaden their economic relations with Russia. Firmly established
businesses of the Baltic region have also started to exert influence
on the political structures regarding this issue
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The
big picture
What
the Baltics may learn from Ireland's success story
Years of generous
European Union structural support funds have definitely made more than
a mark on the portrait of today's Ireland, but none of this may have
happened if the Irish had just sat around waiting. The Baltic Course
met with Ireland's honorary consul to Latvia, also president of Latvia's
Rietumu Banka, Michael Bourke, and heard his version of the Irish success
story, and what the Baltics could learn from this
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Different
approaches are normal
Integration
is one of the most used catch-phrases in Latvia these days, and is used
on more than a few occasions. The word is actively used among technology
freaks and Internet users, but more frequently one hears about public
integration - be it political, social, regional. the list goes on. Integration
is also the topic we chose for our discussion with a man often seen
as the most influential person in Latvia, Aivars Lembergs, the mayor
of Latvia's booming port city of Ventspils, the most prospering city
in the country
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The
path we choose
The majority
of the Latvian political elite still entertains a simplified and overpoliticized
opinion about the likely course of foreign policy for this Baltic country.
For most this is due to the way of thinking inherited by us from the
time of global opposition when all nations were divided into us and
them, and refusal to join either of the blocs was almost automatically
interpreted as proof of siding with the enemy. Such an approach, very
much in line with the spirit of the Cold War period, completely exhausted
itself in the late 1980s and nowadays is anachronistic, albeit a number
still content with it to date
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I
was nearly born in Moscow
They say the
Mayor of Riga, Gundars Bojars, did what Latvia's ruling government parties
couldn't do in eight years. An agreement signed last December on cooperation
between the two capital cities of Latvia and Russia made other political
forces jealous and sparked many accusations of Bojars smooching with
the Russians
Bridgehead
for Russia's westward offensive
Statistics
find it hard to follow the growth of Russian investments in Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania, too often still disguised in the form of foreign
offshore companies. Russian businessmen are taking interest in the Baltic
states as a bridgehead for pushing Russian capital onto the European
market, while lack of certainty in regards to Russian railway policies
prevents more cargo from flowing to Baltic ports
Estonian-bound
Russian timber detours through Latvia
A Russian
Federal Customs Committee directive issued late last year, which in
fact banned round timber exports to Estonia, brought a state of confusion
upon the Estonian railway company and the country's sawmill industry,
importing around one-sixth of its timber from Russia
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Fuel market on
the move
Eastern capital
considerably strengthened its positions on the Estonian market in the
past six months. Construction of new gas stations has been initiated,
also by local operators. In Latvia domestic companies dug in for their
own share launching a competitive war against western investors, while
the former leader of the Lithuanian market is going downhill. All three
Baltic states and the European Union (EU) are eagerly looking forward
to the idea of producing alternative bio-fuels. Meanwhile, Baltic efforts
towards complying to the many EU standards have also set expectations
for growing fuel prices
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Gates
to the world
Riga Free
Port manager, Leonid Loginov, is certain that God favored Riga when
he placed the city and its port at the crossroads of transportation
routes
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Diversifying
supplies
The
enlarged EU faces a growing demand for energy sources
In mid December,
Faouzi Bensarsa, head coordinator of the European Union's INOGATE energy
program visited Latvia for a couple of days during which he caught a
glimpse of the western port city of Ventspils and met the Minister of
Transpor-tation. This wasn't his first time in Latvia, but in between
a round of Christmas shopping through the streets of Old Riga, The Baltic
Course and Ritums Rozenbergs from the daily Neatkariga Rita Avize caught
up with him to hear his views on how the Baltics stand between the EU
and Russia on the all important energy market
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Aviation
after 9/11
The aviation
sector in all its directions and functions has undergone changes most
dramatic under the "September 11th factor," or what's been coined as
9/11. The airlines suffered first, and then the consequences developed
in a domino-effect: aviation construction and engineering companies
had to diminish output, sales, and slow down new projects; next came
the suppliers, including major metal plants world-wide, who in some
cases had to stop the work of entire departments ,because nobody needed
their product for a substantial while ahead
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Milk
warfare?
Free trade
is being promoted amongst countries in Europe and even further at levels
unprecedented in modern times, yet the friendly and neighboring Baltic
states can't help themselves from staging regular trade wars of various
scale. Latvia may often take advantage of being located geographically
between its two closest neighbors, but seems to be finding it hard to
swallow its pride when it comes to drinking cheap Lithuanian milk or
eating Estonian meat
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From
euphoria to censorship
Eleven years
after the restoration of Baltic independence, only now is it just about
possible to speak of a conclusion to the privatization process in general.
Nevertheless, The toughest cookies in all three Baltic states related
to the sale of big state-owned companies are yet to crumble. A shuffle
in the very process of privatizing large objects has caused irritation
amongst the public, followed by accusations of corruption on high levels
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Higher
place, higher price
In good tradition,
the BC offers its readers a list of the top Baltic companies, split
into industry sectors. For groundwork, we took Estonia's Kaibe top 500,
Latvia's top 300, published by the Dienas Bizness daily, and Lithuania's
Verslo Zinios, and included companies with a turnover in excess of 30
million US dollars. The result is slightly more than a hundred top Baltic
companies, and just as before, her majesty trade and attendant transit
lead the Baltic market. Lithuania's oil group Mazeikiu Nafta remains
the largest company in the Baltics
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Comrade
Billionaire
Armand Hammer,
an American businessman, a public figurehead and philanthropist, had
a striking life rich in twists and turns that were surprisingly even
often related to the Baltic states
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Expert
ways at tapping taxpayer pockets
On March 12
the business newspaper Bizness & Baltija and The Baltic Course held
one of their regular Business Meetings series in the Latvian capital
Riga. The topic of discussion was titled tongue-in-cheek. The legislation
of your income - was it suggested by life itself? April 1, the deadline
for filing personal income declarations, was closing in and owners and
managers of commercial firms had the need to talk with authors of the
respective regulations and lawyers specializing in this field
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As
leasing chases credit
More and more
families and companies in the Baltic states seem to prefer living in
debt - or more specifically, taking use of leasing services and mortgage
loans. The leaders of the Baltic leasing market have grown to such an
extent that they compare their financial portfolios not with their leasing
competitors, but with those of the region's banks. For a while now,
financial portfolios of the larger leasing companies have already surpassed
the level of loans granted by small and medium-sized banks, and in some
cases even those granted by the larger banks
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Second
wind for the sun-stone
Amber is found
in many places along the coast of Baltic sea, but it seems that for
no other nation has amber become as important as it has to the people
of Lithuania. For them, an amber nugget or a piece of art made from
one is not simply some pretty trinket, but is a part of history, which
is why Lithuania is called Amber Land
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