The chairs of the European affairs committees of the parliaments of the Baltic States and Poland demanded that the EU stop importing LNG from Russia as soon as possible, LSM reported. In a joint letter, the committee chairs insisted that LNG terminals at EU ports should not be used to import gas from Russia. They…
Latvia had a total of 64,900 unemployed people in August 2024, which was 3,500 more than in the same period of 2023, according to the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LETA reports. Compared to July 2024, the number of unemployed rose by 100 people. Latvia’s actual unemployment rate stood at 6.8% in August 2024, which was…
Estonia’s producer price index of industrial output (PPI) rose by 1.7% in August 2024, compared to the same period of 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Producer prices rose by on year 1.4% in manufacturing but fell by 1.9% in the production of food products. Compared to July 2024, the PPI rose…
Estonia’s central bank, the Bank of Estonia, will stop ordering one and two-cent coins as of 2025, ERR reports. Under new rounding rules, cash transactions will be rounded to the nearest five cents. Rait Roosve, head of the Bank of Estonia’s cash and payment systems department, noted that the smallest coins were seldom used for…
Lithuania is interested in the possible use of next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology, Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys announced, BNS reports. He suggested that such reactors could use spent and recycled fuel from Lithuania’s decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (IAE). The minister was speaking after a meeting with the Italian nuclear technology company, newcleo….
Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste welcomed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision to postpone its planned mission to Russia indefinitely, BNS reports. Earlier, the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as Poland urged the IMF to reconsider its decision to resume consultations with Russia. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Skaiste noted that it…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has submitted to parliament a proposal to revoke three treaties with Russia and Belarus on economic cooperation, BNS reports. Nauseda proposed denouncing treaties on the promotion and protection of investments with Belarus and Russia as well as a treaty to avoid double taxation with Russia. Lithuania signed all three treaties in…
The Lithuanian government plans to allocate 3% of GDP to defence in the 2025 draft budget, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste told Ziniu Radijas, BNS reports. However, if the economic indicators allowed, the government could borrow more for specific defence needs, she added. The minister noted that the projected 3% growth of GDP in 2025 would…
The Estonian government has agreed on switching to need-based social benefits in 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, BNS reports. She argued that the state and taxpayers could no longer afford distributing equal support to everyone, and that doing so was not even necessary. Better data would allow the state to provide better personalised services, Kallas…