Company briefs - 2004-04-08

Lithuania's competition council refused to allow Alita, a local sparkling-wine producer, to merge its operations with Anyksciu Vynas, the largest Lithuania's wine producer that it purchased recently, until extensive market research is carried out.

"In this particular case we have to conduct extensive research. Both Alita and Anyksciu Vynas conduct business on the same related markets," the panel said. "A merging may result in a significant change in concentration levels on respective markets - purchase of fruit and berries, fortified fruit and berry wines, sparkling wines, etc., thus leading to the curbing of competition."

The French construction company Bouygues Batiment International signed a cooperation agreement with the Danish-owned company Baltic Sea Park Development, according to which it will become a strategic partner and general construction contractor for the development of a sea park in the Latvian south-western port city of Liepaja. Baltic Sea Park Development plans to build a grandiose recreation complex that would include a tropical water amusement park, a restaurant and numerous cafes, a casino, nightclub, shopping center, sports center, three conference halls and a variety of shops. Total costs of the project are estimated at 23 million lats (34.7 million euros) in the least.

The supervisory council of Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) appointed Mart Tooming, previously CEO of Hansa Capital, the new chairman of the management board. According to port officials, Allan Kiil and Gert Krieger, who also worked for Hansa Capital, will also be members of the board.

A public prosecutor in Switzerland last week froze the account of Petroval, a Swiss company that distributes products supplied by Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta and other subsidiaries of Russia's Yukos oil company. The account, located in the Zurich branch of BNP Paribas, was frozen at the request of Russia's public prosecutor's office, the Lietuvos Rytas daily reported. However, Mazeikiu Nafta officials said that the account frozen by Swiss authorities was not used by Mazeikiu Nafta.

Statoil, the Scandinavian-owned fuel company that operates a terminal at Riga Port, has appealed to the government to intervene in the conflict over construction of a new pier mandated under a new agreement signed recently between the port and Apvienotais Baltijas Fonds (United Baltic Fund). Latvija Statoil said the situation was absurd and called on the port's administration to explain the legal basis for the agreement. "We see the construction of the ZO-18 pier as groundless and irresponsible obstruction of our company's business," said Baiba Rubess, executive director of Latvija Statoil. "Apparently the Riga port administration, having failed to find a way to get rid of contractual obligations with our company, has resorted to uncivilized measures." Rubess stressed the construction of the ZO-18 pier amounted to an infringement on Statoil's rights in respect to the ZO-16 pier that it currently operates together with Neste Latvija. Riga Port board member Andris Ameriks said earlier that the ZO-18 pier had to be built to allow the port to receive larger modern ships with higher safety standards.

Latvian pharmaceutical companies last year produced 31.4 million lats' (47.3 million euros') worth of products, an 18.7 percent increase from 2002, according to the Health Ministry's pharmaceuticals department. Exports accounted for 75 percent of total sales, up 22 percent year-on-year, while domestic sales jumped 9.7 percent to 7.8 million lats. The total drug market in Latvia was 112 million lats last year, up 12.4 percent from 2002.