Summed up

  • 1998-07-30
LATVIAN CONFECTIONERY TO EXPORT TO AMERICA: United States wholesale retailers are interested in Latvian cakes, cookies and waffles. Ivars Rudzitis, president of the Latvian confectionery company Staburadze, said the company had already received orders from the United States exceeding its capacity. The confectionery is capable of producing 11,000 tons of baked goods annually, however, the current output is about 7,000 tons. In the first half of the year, Staburadze exported products worth 260,300 lats ($441,000). Two-thirds of the company's exports went to the Kaliningrad region in Russia, the rest went to Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine. (LETA)

FIVE FOREIGN INVESTORS WANT KLASCO: Five potential investors presented their claims for privatization of the Klaipeda-based stevedore company Klaipedos Juru Kroviniu Kompanija (KLASCO). KLASCO will be privatized as an indivisible unit to a private stevedore company or a group of companies. Companies eager to take part in KLASCO's privatization had to present an account of their activities, experience, financial state and their status on the international market. KLASCO's equity capital stands at 128.9 million litas ($32.2 million). The state will sell a 90 percent stake in the company. The remaining 10 percent of shares belong to the company employees or other individual investors. (ELTA)

DOUBLE TAXATION AVOIDED: The Estonian-Belorussian agreement on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion took effect July 22. The Finance Ministry reported that the Belorussian consul-general in Tallinn, Ivan Bondar, and Finance Ministry General Secretary Agu Lellep exchanged ratification letters of the agreement in Tallinn. The agreement was signed in Minsk Jan. 21, 1997. The Belorussian parliament ratified the agreement on Nov. 13, 1997, and the Estonian parliament followed suit on March 25, 1998. (BNS)

NEW INVESTMENT COMPANY ESTABLISHED: Latvian bank Trasta Komercbanka (TKB), together with its subsidiary TKB Asset Management, and insurance company Parekss Apdrosinasanas Kompanijas founded a new investment company. Called TKB Investiciju Kompanija, the new company has a registered share capital of 125,000 lats ($211,000). Roberts Idelsons, head of TKB securities department, said the new company was established "to manage investment and pension funds." Idelsons said a new open-end investment fund will be registered in September to be managed by TKB Investiciju Kompanija. Idelsons believes that TKB Investiciju Kompanija may manage other investment and pension funds in the future as well. (BNS)

LITHUANIA TO PRODUCE DOG CHOW: The Lithuanian Klaipeda District Council endorsed the detailed plan of the Master Foods Lietuva company to build a pet food factory in the western Lithuanian town of Gargzdai. The company is planning to invest 40 million litas ($10 million) in the new factory and to employ about 280 people. The plant will have an annual capacity of 20,000 tons of pet food to be exported to Western European and Scandinavian countries. Construction of the plant is to begin in September. Master Foods Lietuva was not allowed to build the plant near the sea resort of Palanga. Master Foods invested 28 million litas in its first factory in Klaipeda and is planning to reach sales of 82.8 million litas this year. (BNS)

ESTONIA INTERESTED IN RIGA-STOCKHOLM ROUTE: The company E-Liini AS, which operates boat traffic on the Tallinn-Stockholm route under the EstLine trademark, is considering a proposal to start operating on the Riga-Stockholm route with one passenger ship. "Like any other successful shipping company, we also want to expand and open new routes. We're considering a number of options and opening a service between Riga and Stockholm this year cannot be ruled out," said Anders Wehtje, E-Liini AS board chairman. Wehtje added that the Port of Riga had apparently turned to several shipping companies with the proposal, but has yet to open talks with any of them. (BNS)

UHISPANK RECEIVED MOODY'S RATING: Estonia's Uhispank received long and short term foreign currency deposit ratings of Baa3/P-3 and a financial strength rating of D from Moody's Investor Service. According to Moody's, the ratings reflect Uhispank's strong position as the second largest banking group the Baltic states. As the bank's liquidity has improved thanks to a successful GDR issue, Moody's analysis finds the bank has few obstacles to overcome in its pursual of geographic expansion. But Moody's also points out that the composition of Uhispank's funding is "less stable than its peers, and although currently loan quality is good, Moody's expects a negative trend in line with the banking sector." (BNS)