Lithuania’s new government plans to ease export controls on dual-use goods, LRT reports. Economy Minister Lukas Savickas said that the previous government had imposed the restrictions without consulting businesses first. He insisted that the restrictions must not harm exporters of high-tech products and should only be imposed if companies violate existing sanctions. An industry representative…
Lithuania’s state-owned investment firm EPSO-G Invest and ammunition manufacturer Giraites Ginkluotes Gamykla (GGG) have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture, Rheinmetall Defence Lithuania, with German defence industry group Rheinmetall, Baltic News Network reports. Under the agreemnt, the companies will invest in an artillery ammunition plant in the town of Baisogala in Lithuania’s Radviliskis district. Rheinmetall…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, cannot meet its obligations and achieve its strategic objectives if the company continues to operate with negative equity, supervisory board chairman Klavs Vasks stated, LETA reports. An additional capital injection from the state is therefore probably inevitable unless the government is prepared to privatise the company, Vasks said. The investment…
Breaking up Estonia’s state-owned energy group, Eesti Energia, would not improve energy security, Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi stated, ERR reports. Speaking in an interview with Vikerraadio, Ligi insisted that Eesti Energia provided an essential service for society. He said that building a new gas power plant in Narva was a “good idea,” but stressed the…
Estonia is due to receive a US-made M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and other artillery and air defence systems soon, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur announced, ERR reports. Estonia will receive an IRIS-T medium-range air defence system, 18 different mobile artillery pieces, around EUR 700mn worth of ammunition, nearly 200 armoured vehicles, and various…
Lithuania will propose that the three Baltic States build a joint power plant to ensure flexible electricity production and energy security, Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas announced, BNS reports. Speaking on LRT, the minister suggested that the power plant could run on gas. He did not elaborate on the possible technology and location of the…
Lithuania’s incoming centre-left government has revealed its draft programme for the next four years, LRT reports. The new coalition plans to focus on welfare, with more child benefits and better accessibility to health care and education. Also, the government may make changes to tax policy, moving towards progressive taxation. The new government plans to reverse…
Estonia’s GDP totalled EUR 10bn in the third quarter of 2024, which was down 0.7% from the same period of 2023, according to data published by Statistics Estonia, The Baltic Guide reported. This was the tenth consecutive quarter of economic decline. The seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP fell by 0.6% over a year but remained…
Latvia approved 30 applications for investor visas and 53 dependent visas under its so-called golden visa programme in the first half of 2024, Investment Migration Insider reports. The biggest number of approved applications were submitted by Chinese (11) and Turkish (7) nationals. The EUR 50,000 business investment option accounted for 22 and real estate investments…