Business briefs

  • 2001-03-01
TALLINN BANS BRITISH PIGS: The Estonian Veterinary and Food Board laid a ban as of Feb. 21 on the import of live pigs, pork, pork products and feed from Great Britain in connection with an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Essex. The board placed the ban immediately upon receipt of an official notice from the British agriculture and veterinary agency. Import licenses issued earlier have been canceled. No official notice has been received from Mongolia, where there was also an outbreak of the disease, and so no ban has been issued with respect to that country. According to the board, no pork, pork products or feed is being imported from Mongolia to Estonia.

KRAFT BOOSTS SALES: Kraft Foods Lithuania, one of the largest confectioners in the Baltic states, reported an annual turnover of 240 million litas ($60 million) for 2000, an 11 percent increase over the previous year. The company sold 16,000 tons of confectionery goods, coffee, potato chips and ketchup last year, up by 31 percent year-on-year. "Last year, our sales in export markets - Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Russia's Kaliningrad region and elsewhere in Russia - surged by more than 50 percent. In total, the company exported 5,600 tons of production," said Marius Girzadas, assistant chief public relations officer.

NEW MOTOR INSURANCE: The Lithuanian government's committee for strategic planning decided Feb. 22 to propose a law on obligatory motor vehicle third-party liability insurance to be adopted in the first half of this year, taking effect from early 2002, the government's representatives said. Currently, around 23 percent of drivers are covered by voluntary third-party liability insurance. A public opinion poll carried out by Lietuvos Draudimas, Lithuania's leading insurer, showed that 83 percent of respondents intended to obtain compulsory insurance coverage. Lithuania is the only country in Europe where car insurance is not obligatory. Nearly 400 million litas ($100 million) will flow into the country's financial market as the annual insurance premium is forecast to amount to 352 litas.

PEAK ON CONSTRUCTION: The year 2000 was a good one for Estonia's construction firms, with an improved economic environment and favorable loan terms livening up the market, the Estonian Statistics Office reported Feb. 22. According to preliminary information, projects carried out by Estonian construction firms in 2000 totaled 9.2 billion kroons ($532.4 million) excluding sub-contracting. Compared with 1998, so far the most successful year for construction firms, the volume of construction increased by 2 percent, the statistics office reported. The cost of construction increased by 2.5 percent against 1999 and 4.5 percent against 1998. Construction work to the tune of 13.8 billion kroons was carried out in Estonia, and 624 million kroons in foreign countries. Redecoration and refurbishment accounted for 49 percent of all construction work.

FERRY LINE CAN WAIT: Negotiations with large Scandinavian operators about launching a ferry line between the Latvian and Swedish capitals will continue after the local elections in Latvia in March, Riga Mayor Andris Argalis said Feb. 22. Argalis said the large Scandinavian ferry operators believe that good results should initially be reached on the route between Riga and Stockholm by smaller ferry operators. Negotiations about opening a ferry route to Hamburg in Germany are also taking place. Argalis claimed that "there is much more hope" for this route than for traffic to Stockholm. This spring could also take ferries to the German city of Lubeck. The Riga-Stockholm route is already covered by the Mihails Solohovs ferry, in for repairs since the start of the year, which means that the route is temporarily closed.

MEN EARN MORE: In all professional groups in Latvia, the average hourly wage for men exceeds that for women, according to a survey the Central Statistical Bureau conducted in October of 2000. The average gross hourly wage is 0.82 lats ($1.35), but the figure was 0.92 lats for men - 0.18 lats more than women's pay. Wage levels differ from region to region. The average wages were biggest in the city of Ventspils in October (187 lats a month), and lowest in the district of Rezekne (only 83 lats). In regions where average wages are lower, only legislators, state senior officials, CEOs, senior experts and specialists receive better wages, while in districts where average wages are higher the pay for employees of other professions is also greater.

CZECHS TO FLY VILNIUS: Czech Airlines will launch new direct flights between Vilnius and Prague at the end of March. The air carrier intends to become the leader on the route. "We plan to have a 5 percent share of the Lithuanian flight market and handle about 30,000 passengers," Dan Plovajko, director of public relations at Czech Airlines headquarters, said in a news conference Feb. 23. CSA would fly to this new destination five times a week, using ATR aircraft. The timetable will be drawn up in such a way that Lithuanian passengers would be able to easily transfer to flights going from Prague to other countries. At the moment, it is possible to reach Prague by air only via Frankfurt or Copenhagen.

RIGA SUPPORTS TUNNEL: The Riga City Council approved the design of a tunnel under the Daugava River Feb. 27. The tunnel may be completed by 2005. The project could cost up to 150 million euros ($141 million). A private investor may be chosen by tender for the construction of the tunnel. It is believed that such an investor will most likely be a foreign company, with local companies involved in the construction work. The city of Riga could later buy out the tunnel in 25 to 30 years. Raimonds Krumins, chairman of the Riga Council's financial committee, said that the preference is for a sunken tunnel, the cost of which is almost half that of a bored tunnel. It is expected to be built because the bridges in Riga are often the cause of traffic jams. The tunnel, to be located just to the south of the port of Riga, would also be used by trucks headed for the port so they do not have to go through the city center.