Kalev, Estonia's largest confectionery, said it was planning to raise the price of some of its products by an average of 10 percent this month due to an increase in raw material costs. Products not included are most chocolates, sweets with chewing-gum filler, toffees and gift boxes. Marketing director Alar Pink said that the sugar the company uses for some sweets rose three times in price when Estonia joined the EU. "For us accession to the EU meant, above all, a significant increase in the cost of sugar 's our main raw material 's and the accompanying additional outlay of about 37 million kroons (2.3 million euros) a year," he said.
Nolato Group, a Swedish-based high-tech developer and manufacturer of polymer components and product systems, said it was preparing to launch a new plant in Estonia. Company President Jan Erik Lans said that even though management hadn't made a formal decision yet, it was likely that the company would open a new plant in the Baltics sometime this year. The plant, which will hire 30 people right away, will manufacture mobile-phone components from silicon rubber, rather than the existing Nolato's plastic production unit.
Intel Vilnius will begin supervising Pan-Baltic trade of Intel products, the world's leading producer of microchips. "This move demonstrates that Intel, the leading global semiconductor producer, intends to stir up its business in all three Baltic countries," said Ramunas Domarkas, Intel sales representative for the Baltic countries.
