Company briefs - 2003-12-11

Snaige plans to invest 13 million euros in the construction of a new refrigerator plant in Kaliningrad, an increase from the previously announced amount of less than 12 million euros. The plant is expected to employ a workforce of approximately 500 people and reach an annual production capacity of 350,000 refrigerators for the leading Baltic manufacturer, bringing the company's total capacity to 800,000 units a year.

Sergejs Dzenis, CEO of Elkor Grupa, has announced the company will open the largest specialized goods trade center in the Baltic states, offering appliances and sportswear. The group reportedly invested 13.6 million lats (20.6 million euros) in the opening of Elkor Centrs, which houses 12,000 square meters of floor space, and plans to earn back its investments within the next 10 years.

The Ventspils municipality has announced it plans to borrow 3 million euros for the construction of a grain terminal. FSU-VGT will work as the developer of the terminal, which will have 2.5 million tons of annual shipping capacity.

The color picture tube producer Ekranas may face losses of up to 20 million litas (5.8 million euros) due to a lagging electronics market, a decline in the prices of end products and seasonal fluctuations in manufacturing. But Ekrans will not end the year in the red, according to company CEO Eimutis Zvybas, thanks to revenues on insurance benefits for damages incurred in the 2002 fire.

The shipping company Latvijas Kugnieciba (LASCO) has decided to sell three Panamax-type tankers to make use of a good market situation, according to LASCO President Imants Vikmanis. LASCO, however, wants to make a charter agreement with the buyer of the tanks. According to a company spokesperson, the company is currently reviewing several offers it has received on this sale.

The Tallinn Stock Exchange said that it had received a notice of acquisition of a qualifying holding in Tallinna Farmaatsiatehase AS (Tallinn Pharmaceutical Company) issued by Ieva Abolina on Nov. 28, 2003. Abolina reportedly sent a notice via Hansabanka to the person maintaining the company's share registry that showed her holding had increased to over 10 of all votes represented by shares.

The Latvian Fisheries Ass-ociation said that exports of sprats, a key industry product, had declined considerably. Canned fish production has reportedly dropped 25 percent in the first nine months year-on-year, dipping 10 million lats (15 million euros). Still, the total output of the fish processing industry grew in the same comparative periods from some 111,930 tons to 112,265 tons, which is worth 47.6 million lats.