The rising price of oil products has not significantly increased the sales of Estonian shale-oil producers Viru Keemia Grupp (Viru Chemical Group) and Narva Elektrijaamad (Narva Power Plants).
"VKG has signed long-term contracts for the sale of shale oil. As we have been selling most of our output for exports, the sale prices are already in line with world market prices," said VKG's Elina Kink. A spokesman for Narva Elektrijaamad said that the sale of oil had fallen in the past few months and that the high price of heavy fuel oil had increased shale oil exports, which only accounted for a small proportion of the firm's sales.
Estonian Air advertisements posted in Stockholm subway stations had to be changed because beer was featured in them. The posters, made by the Rakett advertising agency, appealed to Swedish men, enticing them to drink cheep beer in Tallinn. As alcohol advertising is prohibited in Sweden, the carrier was forced to change its posters, which now feature empty tankards.
Latvia's Transport Ministry has invited Russia to join the international Rail Baltica project in constructing a modern fast train line between Tallinn, Riga, Kaunas, Warsaw and Berlin. "St.Petersburg, as the largest center on the Baltic Sea's eastern coast, should definitely be linked to Rail Baltic," Transport Ministry State Secretary Vigo Legzdins said at the Transport and Logistics 2004 conference in Riga. Legzdins repeatedly called on Russia to cooperate with Latvia in the transport sector and revise its policies "so that the transport corridor wouldn't stop at the border" and expressed hope that the European Commission would continue talks with Russia about further cooperation. He added that Latvia and Russia would benefit greatly from developing a joint network of roads and railways.
VP Market, the largest retail group in the Baltics, has unveiled plans to invest over 100 million litas (29 million euros) in order to double the retail space in Akropolis, Lithuania's biggest shopping and entertainment center. The plan, which should be completed by November of this year, is to build a two-story, 55,000-square-meter annex to the Vilnius building, bringing the complex's total area to 109,000 square meters. The new annex will house around 70 stores, cafes and restaurants and the largest retail space will be allocated to Ermitazas, VP Market's household goods center.
The board of Lietuvos Energija (Lithuanian Energy), the state-run power transmission company, gave its blessing to 75.9 million litas (22 million euros) in investments in a power transmission cable-laying project due to link Estonia with Finland. Lithuanian Energy is expected to enter the Scandinavian market in 2005 and will join a list of partners who want to take over 20 percent of the power transmission system. The company sees its investments into the project code-named Northern Energy Bridge to buy themselves out by 2010-2011.
