Lithuania has submitted a request to the European Commission, seeking a loan of over EUR 1.8bn from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for investments, Baltic News Network reports. Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste said that around EUR 1bn would be allocated for loans to businesses and industry, while an additional EUR 700mn would be…
Over 830 musicians and 83 groups will take part in a folk music festival named “Really” (“Päriselt”) at Estonian capital Tallinn’s Freedom Square on 1 July 2023, ERR reports. The concert will feature seven distinct brass choirs, each representing a unique assortment of historical folk instruments. At the same time, the 13th Youth Song and…
Latvian restaurant operator Rosinter Restaurants, which owned the IL Patio, Planeta Sushi, and TGI Fridays restaurants in Riga, has been liquidated, TVNET reports. The company was registered in 2004 and was one of the oldest catering companies in Latvia. The company initiated insolvency proceedings in autumn 2021. Rosinter Restaurants reported a turnover of EUR 1.4mn…
Only half of the volunteers who applied for military service in Latvia’s first draft will begin serving in the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) on 1 July 2023, LETA reports. Altogether 254 Latvian citizens will join the draft, a Defence Ministry spokesperson announced. A total of 488 citizens expressed their desire to volunteer for military…
Estonia’s Tallinn District Court has rejected the appeal of Alexey Yesakov, one of the organisers of the pro-Russian “Immortal Regiment” protest march, against being deported from Estonia, Postimees reports. The court thus upheld an October 2022 ruling of the administrative court. Yesakov was deported and his permanent residence permit was annulled in May 2022 for…
The total turnover of Estonia’s food retail chains rose by 12.4% in 2022, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Coop’s net retail sales amounted to EUR 805.9mn (up 7.2%) and operating profit to EUR 12.6mn (EUR 29.2mn). Selver’s sales stood at EUR 601.9mn (up 4.7%) and pre-tax net profit at EUR 11.2mn (down…
Welcome to Via Baltica, your “information superhighway” for news from the three Baltic tigers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania! Our founder and editor-in-chief is Kerkko Paananen, senior news analyst with more than two decades of expertise in covering current affairs in the Baltic States. We aim to do one thing well: Every day, we will…