Off the wire

WE SHALL SEE: Lithuania's largest television tube manufacturer, Panevezys-based Ekranas, signed a long term agreement with the major Japanese electronic producer Toshiba to create a new product, the Lithuanian National Stock Exchange reported Oct. 24.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE: The Lithuanian Nuclear Power Plant intends to export electricity to Belarus after the state majority owned power utility Lietuvos Energija halted electricity exports there Oct. 1, the Lithuanian daily Lietuvos Rytas reported Oct. 30. Several weeks ago the head of the power plant Viktoras Sevaldinas signed the intention protocol with the heads of the Belarusian energy company Belenergo and the Russian nuclear fuel exporter TVEL.

ASSESSES RISK IN UPGRADING: Representatives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are expected to come to Lithuania in mid-November to assess the risk of possible investments into the modernization of the Lithuanian oil company Mazeikiu Nafta, operated by the U.S. company Williams International, a government representative said Oct. 30. Mazeikiu Nafta's modernization plan, drawn up in accordance with EBRD requirements, was submitted to the EBRD in the beginning of October. The total value of all modernization projects included in the plan is estimated at $400 million.

GLOBAL FACTORS WORSEN BUDGET: The International Monetary Fund mission to Latvia said Oct. 26 in a meeting with Finance Minister Gundars Berzins, the Latvian budget situation has worsened by, among other factors, growing oil prices and the depreciation of the euro, Finance Ministry spokeswoman Baiba Melnace said. For these two reasons Latvia has had to reduce forecasts for excise tax intake and corporate tax intake for this year, Berzins said.

LAUNCHES NEW FACTORY: The Estonian electronics components producer PMJ Automec Oyj hopes to launch its Tallinn factory at the beginning of next year, providing about twenty jobs in the initial phase. At present PMJ Automec is looking for suitable industrial premises which the company would probably like to rent at first, AMJ deputy executive director Jarmo Kanervo said.

BUYS 5 PERCENT: Estonian mobile phone company Eesti Mobiiltelefon acquired a 5 percent share in Mgine Technologies, a Finnish-Estonian company that focuses on personalization and mobile positioning software products on Oct. 27. The remaining 95 percent of Mgine Technologies is owned by DONE (Digital Open Network Environment Corporation), an e-solutions company listed on the Helsinki Exchanges, Eesti Telekom, the parent company of EMT, said.

ADDED FLIGHTS DURING WINTER: Estonian Air's winter schedule, starting Oct. 29, adds one flight a week to both Stockholm and Moscow. The flight to Stockholm departs at 2:35 p.m. on Sundays, and brings the total number of Estonian Air flights to Stockholm on Sundays to three, a spokesman for the airline said. The airline is also adding one weekly flight to Moscow, on Mondays. The winter schedule will affect changes in the timetables of all airlines operating flights to Tallinn.

TIRES CHECKING OUT: On Oct. 30, 57 boxcars with the infamous Norwegian tires reached Riga port, said Vladimirs Stepanovs from the Latvian-Finnish Maritime Agency Ltd., the forwarding agent in charge of removing the tires. According to Stepanovs, the used tires have not been loaded on board yet since the ship that is to transport the tires has not entered the port. Director of the agency, Aleksandrs Kovalenko, said earlier the tires will be taken away in two stages. The first shipment will go Nov. 8, while the remaining tires will leave between Nov. 20 and 26.

CERPS APPROVED: On Oct. 26, the Latvian Parliament's plenary approved Uldis Cerps, president of Riga Stock Exchange as head of the Financial and Capital Market Commission. During a closed vote, 83 deputies voted for Cerps, one abstained, while one was against. Janis Brazovskis, head of the credit institutions monitoring department at the Bank of Latvia, was at the same time approved as the commission's deputy head.

START BUILDING: The Latvian construction company Re&Re has won an international tender for construction of U.S. embassies in Paris and Vilnius, Re&Re Director Didzis Putnins said. Construction companies from the United States, France, Lithuania and Estonia were among the bidders.

MISSING $10 MILLION: Lithuanian oil company Klaipedos Nafta still needs some $10 million for the completion of the terminal reconstruction which was initiated several years ago. Klaipedos Nafta has already invested some $104 million in the terminal reconstruction project and is currently looking into finding ways to borrow the lacking funds.