Panevezio Aurida, a compressor manufacturer, has postponed the opening of its compressor plant in Tatarstan, Russia, as well as the partial movement of its local manufacturing base to new facilities in Russia until next year. Previously the company had planned to open a compressor plant in Naberezhny Chelny in fall 2004. "We have not abandoned the plans to open the plant. However, we have come across unexpected legal hindrances," Algimantas Ruzgys, Panevezio Aurida marketing director, told the Baltic News Service. "We do not want to deliver millions-worth equipment there and sit there waiting until all the procedures are completed." The company intends to move its old equipment to Russia and leave the manufacturing of complex units in Lithuania.
Atkirta, a Lithuanian construction company, decided to withdraw from Denmark after a conflict with local trade unions, Saulius Kalkauskas, the company's production director, said. Construction works were frozen for several weeks as the representatives of Danish trade unions demanded higher wages for Atkirta's workers. Atkirta notes that the contract was far from profitable, and the conflict with trade unions resulted in significant costs. Two houses built by the firm in Odense have not been sold as yet, and the customer has not settled due payments with the company.
The mobile operator Latvijas Mobilais Telefons announced that its clientele reached 736,104 subscribers in December 2004, up 23.5 percent - or 140,360 users - year-on-year. Today LMT's services are used by 33.9 percent of Latvia's population, while in December 2003 the figure was 25.6 percent. LMT's mobile communications network covers 98 percent of Latvian territory, ensuring access to mobile-communications to 97.23 percent of the population.
The Norwegian media group Schibsted has reportedly offered to buy shares in the Finnish Alma Media group, which is worth some 705 million euros, according to Schibsted estimates. The offer is conditional on whether Schibsted manages to acquire more than one-third of the shares in Alma Media, which owns the Baltic News Service. Schibsted owns the Eesti Meedia group in Estonia, which includes the Postimees daily, the Kanal2 television channel and the Kroonpress printing office.
Estonia's Tallink said it would cease operating the Helsinki-St. Petersburg-Tallinn route beginning Jan. 2 due to an unexpected rise in St. Petersburg Port dues. The company will keep its representative office in the city, however, and will be prepared to relaunch the route if necessary, CEO Enn Pant said, who cited few winter passengers, weather conditions, fuel costs and possible visa problems as the bases for the decision.
