Middle Europe Investments Baltija, a Netherlands-based company, said it planned to invest 100 million euros in real estate development in Lithuania over the next two years. The company has renovated a logistics center in the Kirtimai district and said it was searching for opportunities in rural tourism and venture capital. Jan Wilem van Otterlo said the company had acquired 19 hectares of land in Ignalina as well. Earlier this year the firm bought the former Vilnius hotel from a U.S. investment fund, which it plans to transform into a shopping and business center.
The McDonald's restaurant chain in Latvia earned a profit of 14,100 lats (21,330 euros) last year, its first in seven years of working in the Baltic state. The company's net turnover in 2003 was almost 3 million lats, largely flat compared with 2002, when it ended with a loss of 90,500 lats. McDonald's Latvia was founded in 1994 by the U.S.-based McDonald's corporation and now operates six fast food restaurants in Riga.
Elion, Estonia's largest telecommunication company, filed a protest against an order by the Communications Board demanding it lower its intercommunication fees. Media relations director Ain Parmas said that the Communications Board has suspended implementation of its order for one month, or the duration of the settlement period. Elion can still appeal the decision in court. On June 22 the board issued an order demanding Elion lower the signal origination and termination fees on the local and single transit levels by about 20 percent.
Latvia's second largest pharmaceutical company Olainfarm announced that it has modernized its plant to meet Good Manufacturing Practice standards. "Setting up production according to GMP requirements gives the company the chance to start selling products on new markets, where demand for the company's products is considerable. Contracts have already been signed with companies from Bulgaria, Estonia and Poland," the company said in a statement. Olainfarm invested a total of 5 million lats (7.5 million euros) in the modernization, which will suit both EU and U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements.
