The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has approved in first reading a bill that would oblige foreign workers to serve customers in Lithuanian, BNS reports. Altogether 100 MPs voted in favour, 5 against, and 14 abstained. Under the amendments, the language requirement would only apply to employees who have direct contact with clients. Also, manufacturers, sellers,…
Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation, Karolis Zemaitis, visited Taiwan on 3-6 September 2024, ELTA reported. During his visit, the minister met with officials at Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs and Ministry of Economic Affairs as well as with potential investors. He had meetings with representatives of several local banks and major companies in…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis criticised other EU member states for continuing to do business with China, BNS reported. Speaking after a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Vilnius, Landsbergis noted that Lithuania was an example that it was “possible to survive without Russian gas and Chinese contracts.” He warned Lithuania’s…
Estonia’s services exports totalled EUR 3.1bn at current prices in the second quarter of 2024, which was up 3% from the same period of 2023, according to Statistics Estonia and the Bank of Estonia, ERR reports. Imports of services totalled EUR 2.3bn, which was up 3% as well. The balance of Estonia’s foreign trade in…
Latvia’s foreign trade turnover totalled EUR 23.26bn at current prices in the first seven months of 2023, which was EUR 1.52bn (6.1%) less than in the same period of 2023, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) provisional data, LSM reports. Exports of goods amounted to EUR 10.7bn (down 4%) and imports to EUR 12.56bn…
Estonia’s exports of goods totalled over EUR 1.3bn at current prices in July 2024, which was up 5% from the same period of 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Meanwhile, imports of goods totalled nearly EUR 1.7bn, which was up 1% from a year earlier. Estonia’s trade deficit thus amounted to EUR…
Sanctions have left Belarusians unable to claim imported cars at Lithuania’s Klaipeda State Seaport, LRT reports, citing local daily Vakaru Ekspresas. Belarusian media claimed that almost 4,000 cars bought by Belarusians from the US were stuck at the port. Vaidotas Sileika, chairman of the Association of Lithuanian Stevedoring Companies (LJKKA), confirmed that the information could…
The volume of transit shipments of cereal products from Russia via Latvia totalled 994,726 tonnes in the first half of 2024, which was up 39.3% from 714,097 tonnes in the same period of 2023, according to data from the State Revenue Service (VID), LETA reports. Wheat and maslin accounted for 598,705 tonnes of the total…
The Estonian government will tighten controls on the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions, Ukrainska Pravda reports. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that attempts to evade sanctions continued to occur on the border with Russia. She noted that the EU’s latest sanctions package exacerbated the threats. The government will therefore replace the present risk-based…