The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved in final reading amendments that will allow Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland to store strategic gas reserves at the underground gas storage facility in Incukalns, LSM reports. The three Baltic States have earlier signed solidarity agreements on gas supplies. The amendments will also free the operator of the Incukalns…
The number of job vacancies in the Baltic States rose in Lithuania but fell in Latvia and Estonia in the second quarter of 2024, according to Latvia’s Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. Compared to a year earlier, the number of vacancies increased by 3.3% in Lithuania, but declined by 5.6% in Latvia and 10.6% in…
The three Baltic States, together with Finland, Poland, and Germany, should build a green hydrogen corridor by 2040, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the Nordic and Baltic gas transmission system operators, BNS reports. The 2,500-kilometre corridor would transport up to 2.7 million tonnes of hydrogen fuel per year. The corridor could reduce CO2…
Some internet domains used by Russia to meddle in the upcoming US presidential elections were purchased using the Lithuanian cryptocurrency payment platform, CoinGate, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), BNS reports. CoinGate is owned by Vilnius-based Decentralized (former Virtualios Valiutos), which established a subsidiary, CoinGate, in the US in 2021. Some of…
This is the first ever edition of Baltic Week, our curated free newsletter of top news items from the three Baltic States over the past week (or so). Please note that this new feature will be quite experimental for now, and that this first edition will probably be much longer than subsequent editions. You can…
The Latvia-based commercial bank, Citadele, posted a net profit of EUR 50.9mn in the Baltic States in the first half of 2024, which was down 21% from EUR 64.5mn in the same period of 2023, bne IntelliNews reports. The bank’s operating income rose by 2% to EUR 116.1mn, with interest revenue increasing by 9% to…
Baltic transport ministers called for increased EU funding for strategic transport infrastructure projects, The Baltic Times reports. The ministers insisted that the Connecting Europe Facility has to remain one of the key instruments in the EU’s next multiannual financial framwork as of 2028, with sufficient funding for cross-border transport, energy, and electronic communications projects. They…
The number of nights spent by foreign visitors in the three Baltic capitals was highest in Tallinn in the first half of 2024, according to data from the Latvian Hotel and Restaurant Association (LVRA), BNS reports. Foreigners spent 1.075 million nights at accommodation establishments in Tallinn, followed by Riga with 851,000 and Vilnius with 699,000….
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, will open flights to several new destinations from the three Baltic capitals in summer 2025, including five from Tallinn, four from Riga, and seven from Vilnius, LRT reports. The company will offer flights from Tallinn to Tirana in Albania, to Hamburg in Germany, to Reykjavik in Iceland, and to Barcelona…