Hungary’s OTP Bank has signed an agreement to acquire the Baltic banking group, Luminor Bank, from US-based private equity fund manager Blackstone and Norway’s DNB Bank, Baltic News reports. OTP Bank had already expressed interest in acquiring Luminor several years ago, LETA reported. Luminor is the third-largest provider of financial services in the Baltic States….
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) has awarded the country’s largest corporate taxpayers in 2025, Baltic News reports. The largest taxpayer in the Riga region was global technology consulting company Accenture’s Latvian branch. Latvian industrial holding UPB was the largest taxpayer in Kurzeme, while optical fiber manufacturer Light Guide Optics International (Lightguide) was the largest taxpayer…
The mayors of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and the Finnish capital, Helsinki, have approved a twin city cooperation plan for 2026-2029, Baltic News reports. The action plan focuses on growth and innovation, resilience and sustainability, and creative industries and grassroots cooperation. The two cities will cooperate in startup ecosystem development, civil protection, and cultural and…
The average monthly gross wage in Latvia amounted to EUR 1,831 in the first quarter of 2026, which was an increase of EUR 73 (4.2%) from the same period of 2025, according to provisional data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reported. The average wage rose by 4.6% in the public sector and 4.1%…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved a new four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List, LSM reports. Altogether 66 MPs voted for and 25 against the new right-of-centre government. Besides the United List, the new ruling coalition includes the National Alliance, New Unity, and the Union of Greens…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has begun consultations with parliamentary groups on forming a new government, Baltic News reports. The President stressed the need to ensure political stability, effective governance, and national security continuity. The discussions are focused on how to build a working coalition in the parliament, the Saeima, and on the future direction of…
Lithuania’s insurance market totalled EUR 1.73bn in terms of premiums written in 2025, which was up 9.2% from 2024, according to data from the Bank of Lithuania, Baltic News reports. Non-life insurance premiums amounted to EUR 1.339bn (up 10.2%) and life insurance premiums to EUR 391mn (up 5.7%). Insurers paid a total of EUR 927mn…
Estonia’s GDP rose by 1.3% in the first quarter of 2026, compared to the same period of 2025, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate, BNS reported. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP rose by 0.6%. Robert Müürsepp, national accounts service manager at Statistics Estonia, noted that there were several…
Most Estonians support the re-election of President Alar Karis for a second term in office, according to a new Norstat poll for the Institute for Societal Research (YI), Baltic News reports. The survey conducted in early March 2026 shows that 70% of respondents support and 17% oppose electing Karis for a second term. He is…
