The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed amendments banning the import of certain industrial goods from Russia and Belarus, LETA reports. The amendments ban the import of books, newspapers, video games, sporting goods, toys, clothing, and footwear either directly or indirectly from Russia and Belarus. Transit shipments of such goods to other countries will not…
New EU sanctions have forced the Russian-owned supermarket chain, Mere, to close down its discount stores in Latvia and Lithuania, LETA reports. The EU’s latest package of sanctions against Russia lists the companies operating the Mere chain, and their majority owner, Russian businessman Sergey Shnayder. They were sanctioned for supporting activities that undermine Ukraine’s territorial…
An interagency commission of the Estonian government has proposed several measures to reduce the consumption of alcohol in the country, ERR reports. The commission has published a framework plan for Estonia’s alcohol policy for 2026-2035. The document calls for raising the alcohol excise tax, shortening retail alcohol sales hours, reducing the number of licensed outlets,…
Russia has closed several railway checkpoints on the borders with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia as of 1 July 2026, The Baltic Times reports. The official notice indicated no end date or reason for the closure. The order applies to the Lyttä, Värtsilä, and Svetogorsk (Enso) checkpoints on Russia’s border with Finland, the Pechory (Petseri) checkpoint…
Most major grocery retail chains in Estonia managed to increase their revenue only very slightly in 2025, ERR reported. The country’s largest grocery retailer, cooperative network Coop Eesti, reported consolidated revenue of EUR 855.3mn in 2025, which was up 0.2% from 2024. Coop’s market share stood at nearly 23%. Supermarket chain Selver’s annual revenue totalled…
Lithuania’s incoming new coalition government may try to resume official dialogue with neighbouring Belarus on reopening transport links and trade, The Baltic Sentinel reports. Political analyst Vytautas Bruveris noted that many rural voters of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens (LVZS), especially in eastern Lithuania, were tired…
Latvia’s foreign trade turnover totalled EUR 15.01bn at current prices in the first four months of 2026, which was up EUR 589.1mn (4.1%) from the same period of 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) provisional data, LSM reported. The total value of goods exports amounted to EUR 6.94bn (up 2.2%) and imports to…
Estonia’s exports of goods totalled almost EUR 1.8bn at current prices in April 2026, which was up 13% from the same period of 2025, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Exports of goods of Estonian origin rose by 10%, accounting for 61% of total exports. Re-exports increased by 19% over a year. Meanwhile, imports of…
Estonia’s industrial production output declined by 3.8% on year in April 2026, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. Output increased by 14.3% in mining, but decreased by 14.9% in energy production and by 3.2% in manufacturing. Compared to March 2026, industrial production grew by 1.2%. Riin Kadarik, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, noted…
