The Estonian shipping company, Tallink Grupp, carried a total of 5,705,600 passengers in 2023, which was up 4.5% from 5,462,085 in 2022, ERR reported. The number of passengers increased on the Estonia-Finland and Estonia-Sweden routes, but decreased on the Finland-Sweden routes. The company’s ferries carried 840,881 passenger vehicles in 2023, which was an increase of…
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry hosted the annual foreign and security policy conference, Snow Meeting, in Vilnius on 12 January 2024, Baltic News Network reported. The conference was attended by the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Sweden, as well as political leaders and security policy experts from several countries. The participants discussed support for Ukraine…
Sweden will deploy an army battalion of 800 troops to Latvia in early 2025, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced, LSM reports. The mechanised battalion, which may include Leopard tanks, will be part of the Canadian-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence battle group based in Latvia. Sweden is due to join NATO soon. In July 2023,…
The Estonian Safety Investigation Bureau (OJK) and the Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) are conducting an underwater investigation of the wreck of the MS Estonia passenger ferry, which sank in 1994, ERR reports. The investigation team has been filming the wreck and has raised several ship parts to the surface. The investigation, which uses Norwegian…
Lithuania is assembling a coalition of countries to help Ukraine’s demining efforts, Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas announced, BNS reports. He said that besides Lithuania, the coalition now included Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and soon Denmark. The minister invited other countries to join with their instructors and equipment. The demining mission will operate in territories liberated…
Latvia’s timber industry exports totalled EUR 1.4bn in the first five months of 2023, which was down more than 20% from nearly EUR 1.9bn in the same period of 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, LSM reports. Exports of wood and wood products amounted to EUR 1.3bn (down 20%), sawn timber to…
Swedish media company Viaplay Group will exit the Baltic market as part of its cost-saving plans, ERR reports. Viaplay broadcasts entertainment and live sports, including matches from top European football leagues. Viaplay Group reported a net loss of SEK 6.174mn (EUR 534,000) in the first half of 2023.
Latvia’s electricity transmission system operator, Augstsprieguma Tikls (AST), plans to invest EUR 509.8mn in the transmission network in 2024-2033, LSM reports. EU support will cover EUR 135.8mn of the total sum. AST will invest in the infrastructure and management technologies of the electricity transmission network to prepare for the synchronisation of the Latvian power grid…
Planned new wind energy projects in Latvia would be sufficient to generate electricity for more than half of the country, LSM reports. At the moment, wind energy accounts for just under 3% of Latvia’s electricity production, according to the Ministry of Climate and Energy. Lasma Livzeniece, executive director of the Latvian Wind Energy Association (LVEA),…