Former workers of the Estonian forestry group Sylvester set up a 6 million euro softwood sawmill near the city of Vitebsk in Belarus together with Latvian and Belarusian partners. The sawmill's capacity in the first phase is 60,000 cubic meters of sawn timber a year and up to 200,000 cubic meters in the second phase. Owners so far have invested 6 million euros in the project, which started two years ago and employs 150 people. Kaido Joeleht, one of the owners, said Belarus was chosen as the location because the country had large untapped forest reserves. However, the tax burden in Belarus is 1.5 times higher than in Estonia, he added.
SIA Merks, the subsidiary of the Estonian construction group Merko Ehitus, wishes to acquire 50 percent in a Riga real estate company that holds the right of use of land to more than 126,000 square meters in the Latvian capital. The company, Zakusala Estates, owns land on Zakusala Island in the Daugava River. Merko Ehitus reported that it has borrowed 8.4 million euros to finance the deal.
Latvijas Balzams, Latvia's largest producer of alcohol, filed a claim against Breyfield Trust company in order to annul the SPY trademark registered by the latter. Three alcoholic drinks produced by Breyfield Trust, carrying SPY trade mark, were confusingly similar to S.P.I. Distilleries B.V. logo SPI, used on labels of LB products. The SPI logo is a registered trademark, and Latvijas Balzams thinks that use of SPY misleads consumers. The company had filed its claim in the Riga Regional Court together with its largest shareholder, S.P.I. Distilleries B.V.
