Latvia’s Road Transport Administration (ATD) has signed an agreement with Czechia’s Skoda Group for the purchase of nine battery-powered electric trains, LSM reports. Skoda was the only eligible bidder for the contract, LETA reported. Under the deal, worth EUR 89.409mn, Skoda is due to deliver the BEMU trains in 2029. ATD has an option to…
Latvia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi), has now received all 32 new electric trains from the Czech manufacturer, Skoda Vagonka, LETA reports. Initially, all trains were due to be delivered by the end of 2023. Raitis Nespors, acting board chairman of Vivi, conceded that the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine contributed…
The Lithuanian government is ready to send aid to Poland amid heavy floods caused by Storm Boris, BNS reports. Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) has offered Poland a high-capacity container pumping station and sandbagging equipment. Also, a team of 15-20 rescue workers stand ready to go to Poland. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry advised travellers…
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…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda expressed “serious doubts” about a proposal from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to sanction some Israeli ministers, BNS reports. Earlier, Borrell called for sanctions against Israeli ministers for statements that he said amounted to inciting war crimes. Nauseda pointed out that EU member states had very differing, sometimes diametrically opposing…
Czech company Skoda Vagonka pledges to deliver the remaining seven new electric trains to Latvia by the end of July 2024, LETA reports. The company assured that production was proceeding on schedule. Latvian passenger train operator Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi) has so far received 25 of the 32 new electric trains ordered from Skoda Vagonka. Vivi…
Czech company Rekola Bikesharing will launch a bikesharing service in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, at the end of August 2024, ERR reports. The company will have 200 bicycles available. Currently, Rekola’s bikesharing service operates in seven cities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Lithuania will join the Czech-led initiative to buy ammunition for Ukraine, according to Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, BNS reports. Contributing countries will look for potential ammunition stocks or sources of rapid production for acquisition. The plan is to procure 800,000 shells outside the EU, including possibly from India, South Africa, South Korea, and Türkiye, Kyiv…
Members of the supervisory council of Latvia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi), have resigned, LSM reports. The company has come under heavy criticism because of recurring problems with new electric trains delivered by the Czech manufacturer, Skoda Vagonka. Vivi’s council chairman, Sandis Steins, insisted that responsibility for the problems was beyond the council’s…