The social and labour affairs committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved amendments that would introduce stricter rules on workplace language requirements, LSM reports. The amendments aim to strengthen the role of the Latvian language in the labour market. Many employers in Latvia still require that staff speak Russian. The amendments stipulate that…
The Estonian government will allocate almost EUR 200mn for the construction of the Rail Baltica railway and another EUR 75mn for a joint rail depot in Tallinn’s Ülemiste district over the next four years, Infrastructure Minister Vladimir Svet announced, ERR reports. He said that the funds would come from the sale of CO2 quotas. The…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has approved in first reading a bill that would oblige foreign workers to serve customers in Lithuanian, BNS reports. Altogether 100 MPs voted in favour, 5 against, and 14 abstained. Under the amendments, the language requirement would only apply to employees who have direct contact with clients. Also, manufacturers, sellers,…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, criticised President Gitanas Nauseda for delaying a decision to end investment protection treaties with Russia and Belarus, BNS reports. Landsbergis noted that the government had proposed revoking the treaties back in May 2024. He insisted that Nauseda would have had enough time to refer the issue to the parliament, the…
The coordinator of the Rail Baltica railway project, RB Rail, will start talks with private investors on financing the project’s implementation in Latvia at the end of 2024, LSM reports. Latvia’s Ministry of Transport presented a report on the project to the public expenditure and audit committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima. Latvia has…
A new passenger train connection between Estonia’s second-largest city, Tartu, and the Latvian capital, Riga, will not open in October 2024 as planned, ERR reports. Märt Ehrenpreis, CTO of Estonia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Elron, said that certification of new Stadler FLIRT trains for operating on Latvian railways was taking longer than expected. Also, Elron…
Lithuania will not allow a Maltese-flagged ship carrying ammonium nitrate from Russia to dock at the port of Klaipeda for repairs, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte announced, BNS reports. The vessel requested permission to enter the port to unload its cargo of 20,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and carry out repairs by a company in Klaipeda….
The Estonian government has agreed to provide EUR 160mn of state support for large-scale export-oriented investments in Estonia over 2025-2028, ERR reports. Economy and Industry Minister Erkki Keldo said that the support mechanism was aimed at regaining Estonia’s competitiveness in attracting investors to knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy. The scheme will be managed by the…
The Baltic commercial bank, Luminor Bank, has issued EUR 300mn worth of four-year senior preferred bonds, The Baltic Times reports. The new issue was oversubscribed with EUR 1.6bn in orders from over 130 investors, particularly in the UK. The bonds carry a coupon of 4.042%. At the same time, Luminor repurchased EUR 214.1mn of existing bonds…