Summed up

EVERY SECOND ESTONIAN WILL HAVE A MOBILE: In two years every other resident of Estonia will have a mobile telephone, said Eesti Mobiiltelefon Board Chairman Peep Aaviksoo. "A mobile telephone already has turned from an exclusive article into a commodity and the existence of communication is so natural people needn't give it a thought," he said. There are more than 300,000 mobile telephone subscribers in Estonia.

KOMERCBANKA WORKS ON REHABILITATION: Rigas Komercbanka's administrator Gundars Cers could not predict whether the insolvent bank will resume operating at the end of the month. Under the agreement between participants of the rehabilitation plan, Rigas Komercbanka is expected to resume operating around June 30. Earlier Cers said, that this estimate might have to be adjusted, however. The Bank of Latvia approved the rehabilitation plan May 14 on condition that Rigas Komercbanka's administrator kept looking for additional capital to the amount of at least 7 million lats ($11.86 million). Last week the bank's representatives said that over 50 of the largest customers of Rigas Komercbanka had signed an agreement about participation in the rehabilitation process. The Bank of Latvia suspended Rigas Komercbanka's operation March 7 this year, and March 23 the court declared the commercial bank insolvent.

LITHUANIA READY TO SLAP TARIFFS ON LATVIA: Lithuania plans to impose a customs duty on Latvian pork in response to a similar duty levied earlier by the neighboring country. Raimundas Karoblis, director of the Foreign Ministry's economics department, said the Cabinet would consider imposing a 40 percent duty on Latvian pork. Latvia has slapped a 70 percent duty on imported pork and pork products, effective from June 1 to December 17. At a meeting of the Baltic free trade agreement joint committee in early June, Lithuania and Estonia failed to persuade Latvia to repeal the customs duty. Latvians were warned that Lithuania and Estonia would take countermeasures.

COMPANY INCURS LOSSES DUE TO LATVIAN TARIFFS: Estonia's meat packing plant Rakvere Lihakombinaat stopped its export of raw meat to Latvia, after the latter slapped an additional 70 percent import duty on pork June 1. Andrit Heidov of the Rakvere Lihakombinaat said the plant's Latvian subsidiary, Rigas Miesnieks, now purchases all raw material from the domestic market. Before Latvia made its move Rakvere exported about 200 tons of pork a month to Rigas Miesnieks, Heidov observed. The Estonian meat packer estimates its losses from the Latvian pork tariffs at 32 million kroons ($2.15 million).

LATVENERGO COUNTS PROFITS: In 1998, the net audited profit of the Latvian energy company Latvenergo was 48.6 million lats ($82.4 million) on a net turnover of 175.5 million lats. It was decided to pay 2.9 million lats from last year's profit in dividends and invest the remaining 45.6 million lats into development of the company. Latvenergo's trustees approved the increase of the registered capital from 92 million lats to 130 million lats. The registered capital has to be increased as the company had recently invested in modernization of its real estate.

BALTIC FISH INDUSTRY GETS HELP: The international Food and Agriculture Organization will help to revive the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian canned fish industries hit by the Russian crisis. The FAO project is supported by the Danish government. The FAO's project for Lithuania will cost 704,000 litas ($176,000), and the organization will provide assistance in revamping the country's fish canneries and launching new quality products meeting Western standards. The Baltic countries have applied for help as their fish canneries, which exported the bulk of their production to Russia before the Russian crisis, now are working at 10 percent to 20 percent of their capacity.

ESTONIA PUTS OFF TOBACCO EXCISE HIKE: The Estonian Parliament postponed a rise in tobacco excise tax until early next year. Currently the excise tax is 5 kroons ($0.35) per package and the rise of 0.5 kroons per package was originally scheduled for July. The government explained that postponement of the tariff hike will help prevent a gap in the payment of tobacco excise into the state budget in the middle of the year, and also help reduce rampant smuggling. Tobacco excise has so far been one of the slowest paid taxes into the Estonian budget.

SWEDES WANT THEIR SHARE OF LITHUANIAN BEER: Sweden's Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken plans to take a stake in the leading Lithuanian beer maker Svyturys, the company said. "SEB may acquire up to 20 percent of the brewery's shares as the present owners of the company –the Danish company Carlsberg – will keep at least a 54 percent stake," said Svyturys Director General Algimantas Stanaitis. Carlsberg currently owns 97.4 percent of shares in Svyturys.