In Brief - 2002-09-05

Contractor picked

Finnish retail chaims Stockmann and Rautakirja have chosen Sweden's J.O.Z. PEAB Group as contractor for their new shopping and entertainment center in downtown Riga.

Janis Zommers, a supervisor with the SMS Baltic company that represents the Finnish firms, said the Swedish contractor had been chosen from among 10 offers submitted in a tender for construction of Stockmann Centrs, scheduled to open in fall 2003.

PEAB's Latvian sales in 2001 were 1.9 million lats (3.2 million euros), of which 1.8 million lats came from construction contracts.

The Finnish firms intend to invest 24 million lats in the center, which will have a Stockmann department and grocery store, cafés, office space, a movie theater and parking facilities. (Baltic News Service)

Moving south

Itera Latvija, the Latvian subsidiary of the Russian gas concern Itera, intends to enter the Lithuanian natural gas market. The company said it planned to build a gas pipelines from Latvia to the Mazeikiai district in northern Lithuania.

The company recently hooked up with Lithuanian national Valentinas Domogatskis, head of the Kaunas-based Dolarus company, to set up Itergas.

Investment in the new company has thus far reached 400,000 litas (116,000 euros).

Itergas, which should supply about 300 cubic meters of gas per year, plans to supply the Mazeikiu Nafta refinery, the Mazeikiu Elektrine power plant and several dairies, breweries and heating firms. (BNS)

Card safeguard

Bank card holders in Latvia who make purchases in excess of 150 lats (255 euros) are now required to produce a photo ID for the transaction to be accepted.

The new regulation, which entered into force Sept. 1, is intended to reduce the risks of using payment cards, said Commercial Bank Association President Teodors Tverijons.

Tverijons said the new regulation was drafted in the interest of consumers and card holders. The new rule will not apply to hotels and supermarkets.

He said increasing card fraud and counterfeit cards could find their way into Latvia in the coming years.

Sixteen of Latvia's 23 commercial banks issue payment, or debit, cards.

In the black

Tax revenues exceeded spending by nearly 2 billion kroons (127 million euros) in the first eight months of the year, and revenue in August alone was 159 million kroons in excess of spending, the Estonian Finance Ministry said.

Aggregate revenue intake during the first eight months hit 23.28 billion kroons, some 69.4 percent of the 12-month goal.

Costs totaling 21.29 billion kroons were financed from the sate budget between January and August. (BNS)

Synergy

The Finnish energy company Fortum has united its Estonian regional power grid operators Fortum Laanemaa and Fortum Viimsi into a new company called Fortum Elekter.

The aim of consolidation was to reduce costs, the company said, and the move should allow for more innovation. The board of the new company includes managers from each of the merged units.

Fortum Laanemaa operates the power grid in Estonia's northwestern Laane county while Fortum Viimsi the grid in the seaside Viimsi area around Tallinn.

Fortum Elekter manager Are Veski said the new company would maintain the flexibility of a medium-sized business.

"Customer service continues to be a priority, as does improving the electricity supply of customers in both Viimsi and Laanemaa," he said.

Stock capital for the new firm totals 158 million kroons (10 million euros) and the company has about 20,000 customers. (BNS)

Finn to head hotel

Juha Mahonen, a Finn, has been tapped to manage the new Reval Hotel Lietuva scheduled to open its doors in Vilnius in May 2003.

"Our strategic goal is to establish a strong hotel chain in the capitals of the three Baltic states," said Feliks Magus, managing director of the Reveal Hotel group.

The hotel group already has hotels in Tallinn and Riga.

Reval Hotel Lietuva will be in downtown Vilnius and provide some 150 jobs. The 22-story hotel will have 290 rooms.

Mahonen, 39, has been in the hotel business since 1982 and was a member of the launching team of Strant Inter-Continental, the first five-star hotel in Finland.

Revel is the largest hotel chain in the Baltics, operating four hotels in Tallinn and two in Riga. (BNS)

Electronic exports

Vilniaus Vingis, one of Lithuania's largest electronics firms, recorded sales of 101.6 million litas (29.45 million euros) in the first eight months of the year, an 18.2 percent increase from the same period last year.

In August, sales hit 11.2 million litas, a 1.8 percent rise year on year. Growing exports have helped the company, said director Ramunas Pelanis. (BNS)