Off the wire

EXEMPTION: The Danish company DFDS Tor Line will not have to announce a tender offer for the buyout of shares from minority shareholders of the Lithuanian Shipping Company. The securities commission granted exemption from the requirement at an extraordinary sitting on June 22. The exemption stipulates that the requirement should not be applied if a share purchase agreement had been concluded before the amendments to the Law on Public Trading of Securities took effect, even if the buyer acquired the ownership rights later. DFDS Tor Line, the buyer of a 76.36 percent stake in the Lithuanian Shipping Company, applied for exemption from the mandatory tender offer rule last week. The Danish company threatened to withdraw from the privatization deal if the securities commission rejected its request. It does not have the ownership rights yet because it has not transferred the money for the shares.

EXCLUSIVE: The first Italian interior design and furniture shop, owned by the Specus Group, opened its doors in Vilnius on June 21. Investments in the new outlet reached over 600,000 litas ($150,00). The shop, covering an area of nearly 300 square meters, offers fashionable, expensive production by leading Italian furniture manufacturers and designers. Fulvio Cancelli, a co-owner of the Specus Group, which has been successfully operating in Lithuania for three years, said in a news conference that the shop would sell exclusive, state-of-the-art furniture that only wealthy people could afford. "Around 10 percent of the Lithuanian population can afford to buy expensive furniture. Our furniture is targeted specifically at such people, and we are looking to attract at least one-fifth of them," Cancelli said.

MOBILE PARKING: The customers of all three cellular networks in Estonia will be able to pay their parking bills in Tallinn by mobile telephone from next month after Q GSM and Radiolinja joined the market leader EMT in offering the service. Q GSM will launch mobile billing from June 25 and Radiolinja Eesti in July, the private security company AS ESS, which supervises paid parking in Tallinn, announced. The relevant agreements with the two cellular companies have already been signed. EMT, the mobile communication market leader in Estonia, started offering "mobile parking" in Tallinn last July. As ESS said parking bills paid by mobile telephone have recently accounted for 15 percent of the overall volume, or over 200,000 kroons ($11,000) per month. "We believe that the addition of the two operators will significantly increase the volume of mobile parking, as this is the most state-of-the-art and convenient method of billing there is," as ESS Estonia PR manager Indrek Lindsalu said.

WHO CAME?: Tourists in Lithuania spent an average of 740 litas ($185) per capita last year, down by 12.2 percent or 103 litas from 843 litas in 1999, the state tourism department reported June 22. In 2000, tourists from the United States spent the largest amount of money per person in Lithuania (1,724 litas per capita), followed by tourists from Denmark (1,718), Norway (1,554), the U.K. (1,453), Sweden (1,164) and Germany (1,018). The country's revenues from tourism in 2000 (including Lithuanian carrier services) declined by 38 percent to 1.71 billion litas year on year, and the expenditure of Lithuanian tourists abroad (including foreign carrier services) was down by 34 percent to 1.04 billion litas. Lithuania's revenues from tourism account for 8 percent of the exported goods and services or 4.8 percent of GDP. A total of 1.1 million foreigners visited the country last year, down by 24 percent compared with 1999. The average time spent by tourists in Lithuania last year was 6.3 days. In terms of the length of stay in Lithuania, tourists from the U.S.A. are ranked first (10.5 days), followed by tourists from Russia (7.7) and Germany (7.2).

MORE ADS: Estonian Television may continue showing advertisements next year, despite an earlier agreement to the contrary. "The broadcasting council is currently of the opinion that advertising on ETV must stay for next year," said the head of the supervisory body, Tiit Sinissaar. The council found at a meeting on June 21 that there is not enough time for the harmonization of laws to realize the idea. Removing advertising from public-law broadcasting requires the amendment of laws or a new law on broadcasting, but the government has not handed a single relevant bill to the Parliament. "And even if amendments could be passed in Parliament in the fall, the main work on next year's state budget has already been done," Sinissaar pointed out, adding that budget officials need to know for sure whether or not advertising will disappear from ETV next year to plan state support for the company accordingly.

ESTONIANS PACK BAGS: First half-year sales of Estonian travel agencies are about to hit new highs with soaring profits as an ever greater number of people have booked trips to warmer countries because of the cold start of the summer here. "We've had a very good first half of the year," Wris Tours board chairperson Margit Rebane-Pent told the daily Eesti Paevaleht. While May and June have traditionally been bad months for selling holiday trips, this year the Estonian summer that is usually suited for vacationing is breaking records, Rebane-Pent said. Sales during the first five months of the year are up by 6 million kroons ($330,000), or 17 percent compared with last year. Sales at the beginning of the year amounted to 38 million kroons. The last couple of months have even seen a twofold increase in sales from a year ago.

ONE MORE BANK: The Latvian Company Register registered a new commercial bank, Baltikums, on June 22. Baltikums was expected to be registered on June 20, but corrections necessary in documentation delayed the date. The Bank of Latvia issued a license to Baltikums on June 8. The bank's registered capital is 3.5 million lats ($5.46 million). Founded by Baltikums Investicijas, the bank plans to open to clients in the fall and offer classic banking services (payment accounts, deposits, loans, securities operations, trust operations, electronic commerce services). It also intends to deal with export and import operations, financing trade and investment bank services. Latvia now has 23 registered commercial banks.