Lithuania's Bioetan, a subsidiary of Finland's Future Oil, plans to invest 60 million euros in a new bioethanol plant in Telsiai, in northwestern Lithuania. The plant, which will produce bioethanol from triticale, will employ about 100 people, Lithuanian Radio reported. The new facility will be built on a six-hectare plot, which Bioetan purchased last week, within 14 months. A representative of the mayor's office in Telsiai told Lithuanian Radio that the company would make bioethanol from triticale, a wheat-rye hybrid that is commonly grown in Poland, Belorussia, Latvia, and Russia.
Rigas Piensaimnieks (Riga Dairy Processor) plans to generate 25 million lats (34.7 million euors) in sales this year, a 15 percent rise from 2005, said company board chairman Edgars Stelmahers. The company expects to earn about 2.4 million lats in profit, which is about the same level as last year. Stelmahers said that the turnover growth would be achieved mainly in the domestic market. Last year, Rigas Piensaimnieks generated 21.6 million lats in sales, a 16 percent increase from last year, and earned 2.4 million lats in profit, up 20 percent. The company exports its production to 28 countries, mainly to the Baltic states and Europe. Swiss bank Awsbacher, owned by U.K. Investment Bank, this summer became the owner Riga Dairy Processor. Mezzanine financier Darby Overseas Investments also recently made an 8 million euro investment in Riga Dairy Processor.
Estonia's E.L.L. Kinnisvara (E.L.L. Real Estate), has begun construction on the Baltic states' largest department store for furniture and interior goods in Riga, the company announced Oct. 9. The structure will have a floor area of 28,000 square meters, approximately the same size as the Rocca al Mare and Viru shopping centers in Tallinn, E.L.L Kinnisvara said. The department store will be situated next to the SPICE consumer goods and services center, which was also developed by E.L.L. Kinnisvara. Merko Ehitus' Latvian subsidiary, Merks, is due to complete the building by next September. Construction costs should total about 268 million kroons (17.1 million euros). Talks are currently being held with leading Baltic and Scandinavian furniture retailers to fill the new complex.
