Company briefs - 2011-10-13

Latvia’s chicken processor Putnu Fabrika Kekava on Oct. 7 turned to the Riga District Court with an application for legal protection, reports LETA. The aim of the temporary legal protection proceedings is to restore positive cash flow in the company so it could successfully continue its work, Putnu Fabrika Kekava public relations manager Ieva Sture said. The legal protection proceedings are part of the company’s reorganization plan. Putnu Fabrika Kekava has been operating with losses for several years, accumulating significant debts, said company CEO Maris Adijans. The company has a workforce of 600. The company’s expects that it will become solvent within a period of two years.

The state of Finland loses more than 300 million euros’ worth of alcohol excise tax revenues a year to the Estonian retail trade sector, said Finnish Beer and Soft Drinks Industry Association head Elina Ussa, who visited Tallinn, reports Aripaev Online. After the previous tax increase, the state’s tax income grew by just 6.4 percent, although the tax increase was 10 percent, she said. The growing alcohol tourism has kept total consumption of alcohol in Finland almost unchanged, although sales in Finland have fallen. Private individuals buy the majority of their alcoholic beverages from Estonia and from on board ships – last year records were posted in the number of Finnish tourists and their overnight stays in Estonia. Ussa said that Estonia should not follow Finland’s alcohol politics, as a result of which in Finland alcohol consumption has been channeled from restaurants to homes.