The Foreign Investors Council in Latvia (FICIL) has called for reforming the country’s labour laws, LSM reports. FICIL said that Latvia’s labour market faced “growing structural challenges”, which it said were “driven by demographic decline, a mismatch between labour skills and market needs, and outdated regulations.” The business lobby group called for reforms to “enhance…
Lithuania’s GDP rose by 3% over a year in 2024 to EUR 79bn at current prices, according to the State Data Agency’s (VDA) revised data, BNS reports. Gross value added in manufacturing rose by 2.9% and in wholesale and retail trade by 2.6% in constant prices. Growth in professional, scientific, and technical activities stood at…
The EU should take on joint debt to finance defence spending, Gediminas Simkus, board chairman of the Bank of Lithuania, stated, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Politico, Simkus called for “more unity in defence” in the EU, noting that the European defence industry market was still very fragmented. He said that the “time…
Lithuanian real estate developer Hanner and Baltic investment company BaltCap have completed a deal under which Hanner will take over the national stadium project in Vilnius, BNS reports. Hanner acquired 98% of shares in Venetus Capital, which owns the project’s concessionaire, Vilniaus Daugiafunkcis Kompleksas (VDK), for one euro. Hanner will pay EUR 2.8mn to BaltCap…
US financial services company Robinhood has opened its first European cryptocurrency trading hub in Lithuania, investment promotion agency Invest Lithuania announced, BNS reports. The new Lithuanian-registered entity, Robinhood Europe, will offer crypto asset custody, administration, transfer, receipt, and transmission services in the European Economic Area. The Bank of Lithuania issued Robinhood an investment firm license…
Estonia’s annual GDP totalled EUR 39.5bn at current prices in 2024, which was down 0.3% from 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the GDP totalled EUR 10.6bn, which was up 1.2% from a year earlier. This marked the end of ten quarters of recession in the…
German aviation group Lufthansa Group will become a strategic investor in Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, LSM reports. Under the deal, Lufthansa will acquire 10% of shares in airBaltic for EUR 14mn. The group plans to close the deal in the second quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval. The shares will be converted into…
The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) helped attract 45 foreign investment projects, which will create an estimated 2,023 new jobs, in 2024, LSM reports. The total value of the projects is EUR 655.4mn, which is up 6% from 2023. The biggest investments were in high-value-added manufacturing, ICT, energy, and aviation. LIAA’s target is…
The Baltic and Polish transmission system operators (TSO) plan to apply for around EUR 600mn of EU funding for infrastructure investments from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), ERR reports. The funds would be divided equally between the four companies. The companies would use the funds for investments in protecting their critical energy infrastructure. Kalle Kilk,…