International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analyticsSaturday, 13.03.2010, 00:53
LVL 1 mln invested in Recro automatic transmission remanufacturing plant in Cesis
12.03.2010Company Recro has invested LVL 1 million into Eastern Europe's only automatic transmission remanufacturing plant, which is located in Cesis, as Lietiska Diena writes today.
Keyword tags: EU – Baltic States, Investments, Latvia, Markets and Companies
NASDAQ OMX became the sole proprietor of the Tallinn Stock Exchange
12.03.2010NASDAQ OMX Nordic reported on Friday that it purchase the 6.97% minority shareholding in NASDAQ OMX Tallinn AS from Gild Holdings, writes LETA/Äripäev.ee. With this transaction, NASDAQ OMX Group became the sole owner of the Tallinn Stock Exchange.
First waste-to-energy plant in the Baltics to be completed in 2012 in Estonia
12.03.2010In accordance with the construction contract signed on March 11 by Estonian energy company Eesti Energia and industrial solutions provider Constructions Industrielles De La Mediterranee (CNIM), the first waste-to-energy (WTE) unit in the Baltic States will be completed in 2012, Eesti Energia reports. Construction of the new energy unit, to be established as an expansion of the existing Iru power plant, will begin in summer 2010.
Funding agreement for TEC-2 development in Riga signed
11.03.2010Energy company Latvenergo and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have signed a credit agreement on funding for the second stage of the Riga TEC-2 heating and power station reconstruction project.
Non-financial investment in Latvia reduced by 34.2% in 2009
10.03.2010Non-financial investment* (at current prices) in Latvia in 2009 comprised 1702.0 mln lats, of which in the 4th quarter 525.6 mln lats, according to the data of the Central Statistical Bureau. Compared to 2008, the volume of non-financial investment at constant prices in 2009 reduced by 34.2%, and in comparison with the 4th quarter of 2008, in 4th quarter of 2009 it decreased by 31.7%.
Fitch changed SEB Bank's and DnB NORD Bankas rating to stable
International ratings agency Fitch Ratings changed SEB Bank's long-term issuer's default rating outlook from negative to stable whereas SEB Bank's long-term issuer's default rating A, short-term issuer's default rating F1, individual rating D/E and support rating 1 remained unchanged. Fitch also revised the outlook for a bank DnB NORD Bankas, operating in Lithuania, to stable from negative.
Lithuania downplays concern over Russian refinery
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Tuesday downplayed suggestions that Lithuania opposed the inclusion of a Russian investor in the ex-Soviet Baltic state's only oil refinery. "Politically it is important, it's of symbolic importance, but economically this refinery is not strategic," Grybauskaite told AFP in an interview.
Snoras – Jusu Tarpininkas to leave bourse
Finance brokerage company Snoras – Jusu Tarpininkas decided to delist from the NASDAQ OMX Stock Exchange in the Baltic states from March 31, 2010, the company's statement to the Stock Exchange says.
Enterprise Estonia distributed 149 innovation vouchers to SMEs in a year
In a year, small enterprises have received innovation voucher grants from the foundation Enterprise Estonia for implementing 149 innovation projects, writes LETA/Äripäev.ee. The volume of the grants financed by the European Regional Development Fund amounts to a total of 8.75 million kroons.
Fitch raised Lithuania's rating outlook on fiscal policy
Lithuania, which suffered the European Union's second-worst recession, had the outlook on its credit rating raised by Fitch Ratings after the government implemented an austerity program to curb the budget deficit.
Estonia to get a EU-funded pollution abatement vessel by 2013
The European Commission approved the decision of the Centre for Environmental Investments to allocate nearly 440 million kroons to the Police and Border Guard Board for purchasing a new multi-functional pollution abatement ship, writes LETA/Postimees Online.
Goldman Sachs: least attractive operating conditions in Baltics
Eastern Europe offers banks "attractive long-term growth," while investors should be selective amid an uneven economic recovery in the region, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
PM of Lithuania: Gazprom claim is entirely law-based
In Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius' opinion, the claim over the alleged damages of the Russian gas concern Gazprom is entirely a legal dispute between Kauno Energija and the Kaunas heat and power plant (KTE) owned by Gazprom. In this dispute the state is the third party. At the same time, the prime minister noted that the contract between Kauno Energija and the KTE did not mean that the state had no right to regulate energy and heating prices or pass relevant laws.
Goldman Sachs suggests investors to sell Swedbank and SEB shares
A team of Goldman Sachs Group analysts, led by Frederik Thomasen, advised investors to sell shares of the largest lenders of the Baltic states – Swedbank and SEB, LETA/Bloomberg reports.
Current account surplus reached LVL 1.25 bln or 9% of GDP in 2009
The surplus in the current account of Latvia's balance of payments totaled LVL 1.25 billion or 9% of gross domestic product last year, the Bank of Latvia press secretary Martins Gravitis informed the business portal Nozare.lv. In the fourth quarter last year, the surplus in the current account of Latvia's balance of payments amounted to 12% of GDP, and the aggregated balance of goods and services was positive.
Closer cooperation model for the Baltics and the EU 
