Latvia’s Competition Council concluded seven high-priority cases on violations of and non-compliance with competition law in 2025, LSM reports. Total fines issued in the cases amounted to EUR 2.5mn, according to the council’s annual report. The public benefit increased by around 25% over a year, the Competition Council estimated. The biggest sanctions included a EUR…
Estonia’s annual inflation may reach 6% or higher in 2025, driven by the rise in energy and food prices, local analysts forecast, ERR reports. Triinu Tapver, analyst at LHV Pank, said that inflation could amount to as much as 6.2-6.5% in 2025, which would be up sharply from the bank’s earlier estimate of 4.5% at…
Lithuanian supermarket operator Maxima Group generated consolidated revenue totalling EUR 3bn in the first half of 2024, which was up 4.7% from the same period of 2023, GlobeNewswire reported. Like-for-like retail sales rose by 2.2% over a year, including by 4.7% in the Baltic States. Online sales dropped by EUR 8mn. The group’s six-month EBITDA…
Amid rising incomes and optimism about their financial situation, Lithuanians are spending more on food and non-essentials but are increasingly reluctant to dine out due to high restaurant prices driven by rising labour costs and the expiration of pandemic-era tax breaks, LRT reports. While supermarket food sales are boosting economic growth, restaurant turnover has fallen…
Latvia’s state-owned postal services provider, Latvijas Pasts, has reversed its decision to close down more than half of its post offices, LETA reports. The company will only close down 12 post offices in places where the number of post offices exceeds the requirements on universal postal services. Latvijas Pasts plans to relocate post offices in…
Retailers in Estonia expect declining sales in the first half of 2024 amid lower consumer confidence, ERR reports. Many consumers plan to go shopping in neighbouring countries due to the rise in the VAT rate from 20% to 22% as of 1 January 2024, according to a Norstat poll for Citadele bank, BNS reports. The…
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…
Latvia’s Economy Minister, Ilze Indriksone, said that the state should not intervene in the food market, LSM reports. Earlier, Agriculture Minister Didzis Smits insisted that market intervention was necessary due to the high food prices. He suggested establishing a special regulator to monitor food prices in shops. Indriksone agreed that Latvia’s large supermarket chains, Maxima…
Latvia’s retail sector has had no competition, especially in grocery trade, for years, Agriculture Minister Didzis Smits stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Smits asserted that retailers could set markups of 300% plus VAT on local produce and still compete, which he said was “abnormal” and “unpatriotic.” He insisted that in such…