Ecology, Investments, Latvia, Markets and Companies

Eko Baltija CEO Maris Simanovics says that the company is going through a period of very rapid growth at the moment, which is why an investor is needed – to make the growth even faster. Eko Baltija wants to expand into the markets of Lithuania and Estonia, as well as to buy several waste management companies in Latvia. The planned amount of investment is EUR 50 million or more, and the company hopes that it will come from a foreign investor, writes LETA.

This means that Latvia's waste management sector may change profoundly, and the emergence of a new player cannot be ruled out, believe other Latvian waste management companies.

Eko Baltija holding includes a number of waste management enterprises, PET bottle recycling companies PET Baltija, Nordic Plast; Eko Baltija also owns shares in Latvijas Zalais punkts (Latvian Green Point). At the moment, Eko Baltija belongs to British and Icelandic investment funds, as well as the Latvian venture capital fund Otrais eko fonds, which is run by Eko investors.

In 2010, Eko Baltija group's consolidated turnover reached LVL 21 million, whereas EBITDA totaled LVL 4.4 million. The company's growth continues this year: in the first quarter, the company posted LVL 7.6 million in turnover and LVL 1.5 million in EBITDA.

"As is known, there is fair competition on the Latvian waste management market, therefore, the entry of a new market player will not change anything, because the laws of the free market work here. We already are the largest player on the Latvian market, we have no plans of leaving this market, on the contrary, we see good prospects for further development," says Simanovics. Investors have been showing much interest in buying the company's shares, he added.

Eko Baltija has been trying to get an investor for a couple of years already, says Latvian Waste Management Companies' Association board chairman Janis Vilgerts. So far, this has not happened as the prospective buyers were unable to reach agreement with Eko Baltija about the price, explains Vilgerts, adding that Eko Baltija could find an investor in either Scandinavia or Russia.

Prospective investors have also sent requests to the association. Major market players, such as Veolia or L&T, could be interested in expanding their market shares, whereas for companies that are only trying to get a foothold on the Latvian market, for instance, Sweden's Ragnsells, buying the group could be a major step forward, said Vilgerts, adding that investment of such scale would be impossible to find in Latvia, therefore only a foreign company could become an investor in Eko Baltija.