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Fiesta
in misfortune?
The misfortune
may not be all too close to home for the Baltics, but anti-terrorist
alliances and the global anthrax scare has nevertheless lulled the fiesta
that has still trickled into rejoice over the enduring economic growth
of the Baltic states. Figures for the second quarter of 2001 show that
the Latvian GDP has increased by 9.2 %, while the GDP of neighboring
Lithuania and Estonia grew a respective 5.7% and 5%
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NATO
- yes, no or - already?!
The
undefendable Baltic region and ever-cautious Finland
The question
of a tricky bond between Finland and the Baltic states in relation to
NATO already surfaced a decade ago. In the atmosphere of the mid-Nineties,
both the Finnish public and political leadership felt and practiced
an overwhelming support to the Baltic states. There had been a clear
psychological element in the Finnish-Baltic romance: being quite a small
and largely isolated country (until its recent EU-membership), living
morally and politically in the shadow of its big Soviet brother, Finland
was all but happy to adopt the new and tempting role of playing patron
and benefactor. Supporting the Baltics on their way to restored independence
was quite important for the Finns. It was a substantial part of their
own way of self-liberation after 50 years of depressing and humiliating
dependability from the moods and needs of Moscow.
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Free
zones on the fence
Free zones are a good way to attract investments, and Baltic ports are
well aware of it. Yet it's not easy to solve all contradictions arising
in the establishment of duty-free zones while keeping in view aspirations
to European Union membership
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Gas
price cuts - a spoof
The president
of Itera Latvija gas company, Juris Savickis, told the BC that gas market
liberalization in the Baltics will not lead to a price reduction as
expected by the public, but on the contrary - to a price hike.
Political
liberalization
Natural gas
consumption in Europe may double over the next ten years. The Baltic
states keep returning to the question of gas market liberalization with
ever increasing frequency, as well as to projects on importing gas from
Nordic countries, a move that would rid the Baltics from excessive dependence
on Russia. The topic was brought back to the foreground again recently
by the agreement of the century signed in July 2001 between Denmark
and Poland on a two-year construction project for a 320 km long underwater
gas pipeline.
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The
Baltic Sea: hot-spots, problems and promises
The BC asked
leading experts to comment the basic ideas of the Baltic Marine Environment
Protection Commission, also known as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM.
Making
oil exports safer.
The BC asked
Bengt Soholm Jepsen, an expert with Denmark's Carl Bro environmental
consultants, to give his assessment of the current environmental situation
in the Baltic Sea region and the way oil terminals affect this situation
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A
matter of economic reasoning
This past October Russia's oil giant LUKoil marked ten years
of operations in Latvia, and the company's president, Yury Storozhev,
came to Riga for the occasion. The anniversary reception was hosted
by LUKoil's subsidiary, LUKoil Baltija R, in posh surroundings
Old Riga at the Blackheads House, a recently completed duplicate of
a medieval building that used to stand opposite the old town hall (also
being rebuilt) until it was destroyed in World War II. In an interview
to the BC Mr. Storozhev assured the magazine of LUKoil's
intention to increase its presence in the
Baltics
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As
we tighten the belt.
British Airways
foresees a global crisis and switches to increased economical regime.
The Baltic Course interviewed Tom Anderson, commercial manager of British
Airways in the Baltic States, who shared his opinions and visions concerning
development of the air carrier market within this particular region
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Council
of former leaders
Among a host
of international organizations and top end clubs, there is one unique
council that gathers former prime ministers and presidents of countries
from around the world. The Baltic states are represented in this prestigious
gathering by Mr. Valdis Birkavs - the first Prime Minister of Latvia
after the restoration of the pre-war constitution, one of the long-standing
ministers of foreign affairs, Dr. Jur., vice president of the Liberal
International etc., etc.
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In
vino veritas
All three
Baltic states exceed the norms of alcohol consumption per capita set
by the World Health Organization (WHO). Latvia - as a tradition - is
the leader in terms of imported alcoholic beverages. Lithuania is in
no hurry to hand over the production of spirits to private hands, while
Estonian distilleries join forces in an attempt to combat the shady
black market
Latvian
cocktails with Russian vodka
Latvijas Balzams
is the largest producer of alcoholic beverages in the Baltic countries.
This is probably one of the reasons why Russia's Soyuzplodimport bought
49% of the company's shares six months ago, thus becoming the company's
biggest shareholder and strategic investor. The BC met with the new
managing director of Latvijas Balzams, Juris Gulbis, holding office
after the latest change in management
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It's
not the vodka that kills
After restructuring
the spirits market, conflicts and murders in Latvia seem to be tailing
off. The fight against smuggling in Lithuania continues with varying
success, while Estonia has sharply increased consumption of legal spirits
after the Parnu moonshine tragedy
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Forum
of digital dreams
The Baltic
Sea Region e-Business Forum held at the end of September in Riga will
no doubt be included on the list of the most remarkable events of the
outgoing year, assembling delegations representing some of the most
distinguished corporations and banks, which shared their opinions and
visions on the development of the e-business market over the world wide
web. Some of the reports were noteworthy not only from an IT businessman's
point of view, but also from the position of economists, financiers
and even ordinary computer operators
Riding
the waves of franchising
Mid-October
in Riga was marked by the first Franchising 2001 international conference.
As was expected, more questions were left unanswered than not after
the event - nevertheless, it was still the first such conference held,
and the fact that it was arranged is praiseworthy alone. The overall
assessment received from participants showed that they generally were
pleased to attend the forum, since there are good future prospects in
the Baltics for doing business along the line of franchising
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Third
capital hosts EU ambassadors
Surprisingly
or not, a trip by EU ambassadors to the Russian city of Nizhni Novgorod
turned out to be the first case of such a working visit to the region
which is traditionally passed as the «third capital of Russia». The
body of delegates to Nizhni Novgorod was headed by Mr Andre Mernier,
the Belgian ambassador to Russia, as a representative of the country
now holding the rotating EU presidency and Mr Richard Wright, a well
known figure on the stage of global diplomacy and the head of the Delegation
of the European Commission in Russia
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Creditor
protection
Development
of business activity is entering a new phase in the Baltic countries.
The time when businesses could avoid responsibility for liabilities
to their creditors by reorganizing the company or declaring bankruptcy
at ease is gradually falling into oblivion, as new legislation in Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia provides for stricter measures on legal aspects
regulating business activities
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Three
countries - three destinies
Despite the
similarities in history and geographical location of the three Baltic
states, the situation and role of the Russian language press published
in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, significantly differs
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A
baron in battle
In the troubled
times of today, the Great Caucasus remain in the center of the world's
attention. Two wars in Chechnya, conflicts between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,
Georgia and Abkhazia, and nests of international terrorism throughout
these regions, all bring back memories of the Caucasian War, traditionally
dated 1817-64, and the heroes and tyrants of this war - some of which
had lived on Baltic soil
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Precious
pricing
Gold is the
first metal humans learned to handle. Gold was, is and will be a symbol
of riches, power and might. Three quarters of all the gold mined in
the past 5,000 years was extracted from the bowels of the earth only
in the past 500 years. Even so, with demand on the rise there is still
a shortage of gold, set to boost prices high, while quite the opposite
can be said for diamonds
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Home
sweet loan
The real-estate
market remains a morsel for Baltic markets. The average price for land
or a house in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania is still much lower than
that in European countries. Nevertheless, EU accession seems no longer
so distant any more and consequently the prices of commodities, services
and of course real-estate, are all set to blast off into a big bang.
Those who are aware of this fact today try to invest in apartments,
houses and land. But if you don't have enough money, you take a banking
loan. The BC took a closer look at the situation in crediting the purchase
of real-estate in the Baltic states
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Ozolins
- a patron on ice
Sandis Ozolins
has spent the last ten years in United States. During this time he has
managed to not only to play in hockey teams like San Jose, Colorado
and Carolina, but has also participated in All-Star Games which is a
great honour for any ice hockey player. Sandis invests his millions
in building an elite golf club in Latvia. For the second year running,
an ice hockey team he founded, named Vilki or the Wolves, plays in the
supreme championship league of Latvia
Marciulionis
- commissioner of the court
The famous
Lithuanian NBA basketball player and one time European champion, Sarunas
Marciulionis, could spend his days by now kicking back without a worry,
yet he keeps going - and not on the court
Budilin
- a fighter on the mat
Aleksey Budilin,
Estonia, judo, weight category under 81 kilos. Bronze medal winner at
the Sydney Olympics in 2000, silver medallist at the world championships
in Munich 2001, European champion in Paris 2001, bronze medallist at
the European championships in Wroclaw 2000, silver medallist at the
European championships in Bratislava 1999, Grand Prix winner at the
Moscow tournament in 2001, winner of countless other judo tournaments
and events
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