Business Briefs

  • 2001-02-22
MORE OIL: The Lithuanian oil exploration and production company Geonafta started drilling a new well in the Ablinga oil field in western Lithuania on Feb. 13. It is the 229th exploration well in Lithuania, the company said. The Ablinga well is the smallest one in Lithuania and Geonafta expects to extract 80,000-90,000 tons of oil from it. The company expects to make 60 million litas ($15 million) in turnover this year, up from 59 million litas last year, and to post a profit of 20 million litas. The company will announce its audited results in April. Geonafta expects to extract 89,000 tons of oil this year, combined with more than 500,000 tons under its other companies. Naftos Gavyba, an international consortium, is the main shareholder of Geonafta, controlling 80.94 percent of the company's shares. The Polish companies Petrobaltic and Energopol Oil own 42.7 percent and 25 percent of shares in the consortium respectively. According to scientists' calculations, there are about 19 million tons of oil in Lithuania and 30-60 million tons in the Lithuanian segment of the Baltic Sea shelf.

PHONE IMPORTS TRIPLE: Mobile telephone imports in Lithuania tripled last year compared to 1999. The number of phones imported reached 163,700 in 2000, compared to 53,300 in 1999, preliminary data released by the department of statistics showed. The total value of mobile phones brought into Lithuania grew to 89 million litas ($22.25 million) last year, up from 37.6 million litas in 1999. In 2000, imports came from Germany (56,900 units worth 22.7 million litas), Finland (48,600 units worth 37.4 million litas), and Sweden (19,200 units worth 8.4 million litas). The number of mobile telephone users in Lithuania has grown to about 490,000 as of early 2001, from roughly 340,000 in early 2000. One in eight people in the country uses a mobile phone.

TRACK RECORDS WANTED: The Estonian Privatization Agency must by Feb. 22 check the background of persons linked with Rail Estonia, the winning bidder for privatization of the national rail company Eesti Raudtee, as requested by the agency's council member Ignar Fjuk. He said a background study should have been done in December when the agency awarded the tender to Rail Estonia. "I asked for an examination of their background because even the privatization law stipulates that all persons behind a bid must be identified," said Fjuk. The Estonian daily Eesti Paevaleht has reported that a member of the Rail Estonia group, Anthony Massey, was earlier involved in two failed investment projects in Estonia.

VODKA MAKERS TO END WAR: Estonia's leading vodka makers Liviko and Onistar may raise the price of their base brands by 1.5 kroons to 2 kroons (about $0.10) per 0.5 liter bottle beginning in March, ending a price war that broke out between the two companies last year. "Liviko did announce that they will raise the price of vodka in March and we will probably do the same," Onistar's Supervisory Board Chairman Alexander Skoblov told the business daily Aripaev. He said the companies simply couldn't go on producing at zero profit any longer. Skoblov said the price of the cheapest brands dropped so low after Liviko launched its cheap table vodka, Laua Viin, in a bid to win back market share captured by Onistar. Liviko Board Chairman Udo Themas said the launch of the cheap brand lifted the company's market share from 17 percent in September to 29 percent at the end of 2000. Figures for January show that both Liviko and Onistar have managed to increase output while smaller Estonian vodka producers have experienced a drop in sales.

HEADING TO CIS: Only 6 percent of Latvian residents who made foreign trips last year traveled to European Union member states, while 26 percent went to CIS states, according to the Latvian Central Statistics Office. According to a survey of travelers crossing Latvian borders, the destinations of Latvian residents have remained unchanged for several years. Most of the trips are still made to neighboring countries, with Lithuania in the lead with 43 percent of Latvians listing it as their destination. Estonia was second with 20 percent, followed by Russia with 18 percent and Belarus with 8 percent. Of Latvians returning from trips abroad, 41 percent said they went shopping, 23 percent visited friends and relatives, 17 percent traveled on business and only 12 percent said they made the trips for recreational purposes. Most business trips made by Latvians last year were to Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Sweden.

TUNNEL UNDER DAUGAVA: The Riga City Council finance committee endorsed draft decision Feb. 13 to build a tunnel under the Daugava River. The Council's press secretary Mairita Brice said that, under the draft plan, the tunnel, which will join the two parts of the Latvian capital, will have three traffic lanes in each direction. Construction of a bridge over the river would be much costlier, leading the experts to prefer the tunnel. A new crossing over the river is planned as the existing three bridges are insufficient to ensure smooth traffic flow. Officials estimate the cost could be 150 million euros ($137 million). The City Council is planning to raise the funds by borrowing from the European Union structural fund ISPA. The new river crossing link is expected to be built in 2005 or 2006.

FED UP WITH BEEF: A public opinion poll shows 11 percent of Latvians have fully dropped beef from their diets to avoid the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. In the poll, conducted by the polling firm SKDS in January, 7 percent of male respondents said they have stopped eating beef, as have 14.5 percent of female respondents. In Riga 12.2 percent of residents have stopped eating beef, while in other towns the figure was lower at 10.8 percent. In rural districts 9.5 percent of respondents say they have dropped beef from their diet. In January 9.7 percent of respondents said they were unaware of the Kreuzfeld-Jackob disease, which comes from consuming beef infected with mad cow disease. Despite the warnings, 38 percent of respondents say they still eat as much beef as usual. The poll questioned 1,ª020 residents of Latvia ages 18-74.