Company briefs - 2012-01-19

  • 2012-01-18

Swedish bank Swedbank said last week that it was writing off 152.4 million lats (217.7 million euros) on its operations in Latvia, reports AFP. The Swedish financial regulator is planning to increase capital requirements on Swedish banks from 2013. Because of this, the board of the Swedbank group has decided to write down part of intangible assets in Latvia, which go back to 2005 when Swedbank bought the Hansabank Baltic group. “It is important to note that the write-down of goodwill has no impact on our view on Swedbank’s operations in Latvia, which is one of the bank’s four home markets,” Swedbank chief Michael Wolf said in a statement. Swedbank is the largest bank in Latvia, holding around 20 percent of the market.

Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas and other state officials on Jan. 10, endorsed plans for construction of a new biomass power plant in Kaunas, on the territory of Petrasiunai power plant, reports Delfi.lt. It is planned that construction work would take three years, but it is not clear when the work will begin. The new power plant would cost about 270 million litas (78.2 million euros). It would produce both heat (50 MW power) and electricity (25 MW power). The price of the heat produced will be 20-25 percent cheaper than before if the gas prices and the biofuel ratio does not change.

Lithuanian property developer Akropolis Group plans to invest up to 100 million euros into the multifunctional shopping, office and recreation center Zunda, Akropolis Group Development Department head Arvydas Tyla said, reports Nozare.lv. “The bulk of the funding is meant for construction work. However, this is just a projection. Significant economic changes are possible, especially regarding the construction and financing conditions, which may change implementation of the project and the necessary investment amount,” said Tyla. Zunda’s construction, in the former Riga Agricultural Machinery Plant territory in Riga, will begin in 2013; the project could be implemented in 2014 or 2015, said Tyla.