VILNIUS - The Europa Group, a Lithuanian-owned hotel chain, expects to open a new 5 million euro hotel in Riga next summer.
Europa Group said it had signed a franchise agreement with BBF Consulting, a Latvian real estate developer, for the hotel Europa City Riga, which is expected to have 147 rooms, up from the originally planned 80 rooms, and three or four conference halls.
Martynas Kaciulis, director of Europa Group's Lithuanian operations, said that the chain suspended its franchise agreement with NunB, another Latvian company, in September due to a court process.
In October, Europa Group said it was putting the Riga project on hold because a Latvian court had banned the company from building a hotel in downtown Riga.
The chain's first hotel in the Latvian capital, Europa Royale Riga, should open next March. It will include 60 rooms, five banquet and conference halls, a sports and entertainment complex. Total investments will amount to 24 million litas (7 million euros).
The group intends to open a Europa Royale Hotel in the Lithuanian spa resort of Druskininkai next April and has plans to establish two hotels in Tallinn and a hotel in Kaunas in 2007-2008.
Europa Group is also implementing two residential construction projects in Romania. Its hotel in Romania, Europa Royale Bucharest, should open in 2007.
The group is also eyeing Kiev, Warsaw, Bratislava, Prague, Budapest and Zagreb.
Europa Group, which is owned by two Lithuanian nationals, currently has three hotels 's two in Vilnius and one in Klaipeda. It aims to boost its annual revenues to 40 million litas within the next three years, up from revenues of 11.5 million litas in 2004.
