The Baltic electricity transmission system operators have signed an agreement on the synchronisation of the Baltic power grids with the continental European system, The Baltic Times reports. Under the agreement, Estonia’s Elering, Latvia’s Augstsprieguma Tikls (AST), and Lithuania’s Litgrid will disconnect from the Russian-controlled BRELL system and connect to the continental European grid in February…
The US Senate has authorised the allocation of USD 228mn (EUR 208mn) of additional funding to strengthen security cooperation with the Baltic States in 2024, LETA reports. Latvian Defence Minister Inara Murniece said that the funding would allow the Baltic States to develop military capabilities and strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank. In 2022,…
Latvia’s Institute of Agricultural Resources and Economics (AREI) compared prices of food products in Maxima and Rimi stores in the Baltic States in June-July 2023, LETA reports. The institute found that in Maxima stores, prices of 43% of products in Lithuania, 32.7% in Latvia, and 31.8% in Estonia were more expensive than in the other…
The European Commission (EC) has criticised Estonia and Lithuania for failing to transpose an EU directive on the rights of child suspects properly into national legislation, BNS reports. The EC opened an infringement procedure by sending a formal notice for failure to transpose the EU directive on procedural safeguards for children suspected or accused of…
The foreign ministers of the three Baltic States have sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressing concern about recommendations to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris under a neutral flag, BNS reports. In their joint letter to IOC president Thomas Bach, the ministers…
Latvian data centre operator DEAC and Lithuania’s Data Logistics Center (DLC) have obtained a ten-year loan of EUR 30mn from SEB Bank, The Baltic Times reports. The companies will use the funds to further expand their telecommunication infrastructure. DEAC will build a third data centre in Riga, while DLC will expand its data centres in…
The Estonian Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) has approved Finnish meat processing group HKScan’s sale of its Baltic businesses to Estonia’s Maag Grupp, LSM reports. However, Maag Grupp will have to sell two of its major food brands, Rannamõisa and Rannarootsi Lihatööstus, ERR reports. Under the deal signed in December 2022, Maag Grupp will acquire HKScan’s Rakvere…
The climate and energy ministers of the three Baltic States have agreed to bring forward the synchronisation of the Baltic power grids with the continental European system to February 2025, BNS reports. The national transmission system operators will now agree on the technical details, after which the prime ministers of the three countries will make…
Lithuania’s State Defence Council (VGT) has instructed the government to agree with Latvia and Estonia on the synchronisation of the Baltic power grids with the continental European system and disconnection from Russia’s BRELL system by February 2025, BNS reports. Kestutis Budrys, chief national security adviser to President Gitanas Nauseda, said that there was “no fundamental…