Latvia and Lithuania on June 27 urged NATO to strengthen its eastern border in anticipation of Russian private military group Wagner setting up shop in neighboring Belarus, Reuters reported. Disgraced Russian dictator Pootin said that Wagner fighters would be offered the choice of relocating to Belarus as part of a deal that ended Wagner’s rebellion…
The Latvian government and Competition Council have approved Eesti Gaas’ acquisition of Gaso, a subsidiary of Latvijas Gaze, the Latvian natural gas distribution network. Infortar, the proprietor of Eesti Gaas, has been waiting for this permission before making preparations to go public. Eesti Gaas agreed to buy Latvijas Gaze’s subsidiary Gaso in mid-April, with the…
The European Commission announced this week that the next phase of Rail Baltica in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would receive EUR 928 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). With this decision, the European Union is also supporting the modernization of air traffic management and the purchase of a new icebreaker as efforts related to…
Russia’s war in Ukraine has prompted Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to accelerate the building of their armed forces, writes Tony Lawrence, research fellow at the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS) in Estonia. Since regaining their independence in the early 1990s, the three Baltic States have put a high priority on constructing modern, effective…
Lithuania’s decision to speed up synchronization of the country’s electricity grid with continental Europe is a breach of the agreement signed with Estonia and Latvia, Taavi Veskimagi, head of the Estonian transmission operator Elering, has said. All three Baltic States are scheduled to synchronize from the BRELL grid, which connects Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania and…
Estonia is the smallest of the Baltic States, while its national budget revenue and spending are the highest of all three countries – although Lithuania is set to overtake Estonia in both of these indicators in 2023, according to Svetlana Nesinova, senior tax consultant at BDO Latvia, in an interview with the Baltic Business Quarterly…
Work on pan-Baltic high-speed link Rail Baltica’s main line begins in earnest this year. Marko Kivila, acting head of the Riga-based joint venture RB Rail, said that the three Baltic States: “Have chosen different approaches to construction strategy,” which in part would reflect the different topography of the three countries. “If we look at what…