Riga's Center District Court has rejected a request by Austria's OBI Bau-und Heimwerkermarkte Systemzentrale to recover nearly 500,000 lats (730,000 euros) in debts and legal costs from Latvia's Skonto in relation to the insolvent Centrs 21, the firm that used to run the OBI construction material stores. The Austrian company had 10 days to file an appeal with the Riga Regional Court.
Despite plans to make 5.2 million litas (1.5 million euros) in profit for 2004, Lietuvos Avialinijos (Lithuanian Airlines) has found itself in the red after the nine-month financial period. Losses were announced by the Economy Ministry, though neither the ministry nor the company itself specified the precise figures. Following a failure to privatize the company in 2003, authorities have vowed to make another attempt in 2005. Also, the company announced this week that it would begin weekly flights out of Riga International Airport to three destinations.
Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Railway) has allowed Spacecom, a leading railway operator, to continue operations until Dec. 5 after obstructing the company's operations last week. Estonian Railway recently replaced two Spacecom trains in Narva with its own locomotives and took over cargoes going from Kirish to Muuga by force, Spacecom said. "Prior to that, Eesti Raudtee prohibited traffic of Spacecom's trains from Pechory to Muuga, and under pressure the client was forced to hand over contractual cargoes to Eesti Raudtee." Spacecom said. The operator has applied for legal protection, arguing that the two firms were engaged in a price war.