Estonia’s state-owned company Rail Baltic Estonia, which was established to build the Rail Baltica railway, reported revenue of nearly EUR 39.6mn in 2022, which was up 84.3% from 2021, BNS reports. The company’s annual profit more than doubled from EUR 11.4mn to EUR 28.5mn. Rail Baltic Estonia made a profit of EUR 36mn from targeted…
Estonia has almost 800 children living in orphanages out of a total of 3,000 children who are unable to grow up with their birth families for various reasons, ERR reports. Around 1,500 children are in foster care, 600 have been adopted, and a little over 150 are in temporary foster care. Maarja Kuldjärv, head of…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has appointed Gintautas Jakstas as the country’s new Minister of Education, Science, and Sport, ELTA reports. Prior to his appointment, Jakstas was Deputy Minister of Education. The previous Education Minister, Jurgita Siugzdiniene, resigned after an expense scandal. Following the resignation, Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska served as acting Minister of Education.
There is growing momentum within Lithuania’s ruling coalition to initiate an impeachment procedure in the parliament, the Seimas, against MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis due to his repeated antisemitic remarks, ELTA reports. The ruling parties are also preparing a joint statement to condemn Zemaitaitis’s actions, with hopes that opposition groups in the parliament will join the initiative….
Almost two thirds of residents in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, prefer to drink tap water, according to a Norstat LT poll for the municipal water supplier, Vilniaus Vandenys, ELTA reports. The survey showed that 71% of Vilnius residents preferred tap water to bottled water. In a similar survey done in 2021, just 44% of Vilnius residents…
A significant quantity of chemicals of unknown origin was discovered during an inspection of the property of Lithuania’s Public Security Service (VST) in Kaunas, according to the Ministry of Interior, DELFI reports. Arunas Paulauskas, deputy head of VST, said that the chemicals were originally transferred to VST by the Kaunas Prosecutor’s Office for storage and…
Switzerland’s EuroChem Group has announced its decision to temporarily suspend operations at its Lithuanian fertiliser plant, Lifosa, DELFI reports. The company said that sanctions have hindered the plant’s profitability. The Lifosa plant has been closed for scheduled repairs since May 2023. However, EuroChem has now confirmed that it has been unable to find a viable…
A group of MPs in Lithuania will submit to the parliament, the Seimas, a draft law to recognise the Communist Party of Lithuania (KPL) as a criminal organisation, ELTA reports. If approved, the law would impose legal consequences on KPL members who held leadership positions, restricting their participation in political and diplomatic activities in Lithuania….
The invitation for Ukraine to join NATO must be "clear and irrevocable," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking after a leadership meeting at the presidential palace to prepare for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Landsbergis reiterated Lithuania’s full support for Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO. The meeting was also attended…