Company briefs - 2003-12-04

Lattelenet, the telecommunications company under the Baltkom umbrella, concluded an interconnection agreement with Lattelekom. Clients of Baltkom telecommunications can now call to networks of Lattelekom, Latvian Mobile Telephone and Tele2 but cannot receive calls from clients of these networks. Peteris Smidre, owner of the Baltkom group, was among the most vocal critics of Lattelekom's interconnection tariffs, claiming that they were too high.

A survey has shown that Lithuanians are not satisfied with fixed-line telephone services. According to a poll ordered by the National Consumer Rights Protection Service, only 42 percent of respondents said that fixed-line service was easily available, as compared with 89 percent in EU countries. About 80 percent of the users of fixed-line services in Lithuania said that the prices charged were unfair. About 19 percent of the respondents said they were not using fixed-line telecommunication due to the high prices.

Alis, a producer and wholesaler of dried fruits and nuts, said it planned to invest 450,000 lats (692,000 euros) in infrastructure to increase productivity 2.5 times. Alis, which has 40 percent of the market of dried fruits and nuts in Latvia, wants to build a new plant and purchase equipment for packaging and drying. The company plans to attract finance from Hansabank for the project.

Doc@Home, a remote patient monitoring system developed in Estonia by Docobo, has won a prestigious international award as the best e-health solution at a contest held in the framework of the World Summit on Information Society. "The fact that our solution was chosen from all e-health projects submitted from Europe for the contest is encouraging," said Ardo Reinsalu, CEO of Docobo. "We don't have many competitors," he added. Doc@Home is a wireless hand-held patient monitoring device that communicates key health data of a patient to the doctor and by which the doctor can tell the patient what he should do. Docobo has now installed around 600 devices in several countries.

Transneft Vice President Semyon Vainshtock said last week in an interview with a Russian paper that the Russian pipeline monopoly company was unlikely to buy the Ventspils oil terminal even if it received a one-dollar offer. Transneft, which has halted supplies to the Latvian port, is developing other export routes.

A leading Lithuanian road builder, Panevezio Keliai, announced it would acquire the Latvian subsidiary of the Scandinavian construction group Skanska. PK has signed a memorandum on the acquisition of Skanska Konstrukcija, which will be renamed to Constructus. "This year has been successful for the company, as nine-month sales were 55 percent higher than in the same period last year," said PK CEO Virmantas Puidokas. In July Panevezio Keliai acquired the Lithuanian subsidiary of Skanska, Skanska Statyba in a deal worth about 1 million euros.

Estonia's largest garment maker Baltika said that it would open nine stores in Baltic states and Poland by the end of 2003. The stores will have a total floor space of 1,200 square meters and include four CHR/Evermen stores, two Monton stores and two Baltman stores. Baltika opened a Monton store in Poznan in November, bringing the company's total stores in Poland to nine.

Microsoft said it would allocate $200,000 to Lithuania's education sector and offer discounts on Windows and Office software. The financial support will be provided under the five-year Partnership in Learning program signed with the government and distributed by an expert group set up by the Education and Science Ministry.