SEB Bank has published the latest Nordic Outlook. It indicates that commercial banks have downgraded Latvia’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate forecast for 2023 from the initial 1.1% to 0.4%. SEB Bank has also downgraded its own forecast for Latvia’s GDP growth for 2024 from November 2022 initially estimated 3.5% to 2.7%, which means…
While Estonia has barred all freight rail transit of Russian origin, Latvia and Lithuania are following a more collective approach, while noting that these trade flows are in any case fizzling out. The Estonian state-owned rail cargo operator Operail halted the transit of Russian and Belarusian goods last year, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However,…
The Baltic foreign ministers have urged Germany to provide tanks to Ukraine, with Lithuania’s top diplomat claiming Berlin has a “special responsibility”. “We, the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Foreign Ministers, call on Germany to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine now,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tweeted on January 21. “This is needed to stop Russian…
Last week, fuel prices in Vilnius and Tallinn remained stable. In Riga prices went down, according to data compiled by LETA. At the end of the week petrol was the most expensive among the three in Tallinn, followed by Riga. Petrol was the cheapest in Vilnius. Diesel fuel was the most expensive in Tallinn and…
At the end of 2022, the US Congress confirmed funding of $225 million towards their Baltic Security Initiative for the fiscal year of 2023, as confirmed by Latvia’s Ministry of Defence. All this funding will be diverted towards development of all three Baltic States’ military capabilities. In the fiscal year of 2022 the Baltic Security…
Riga Stradins University (RSU) reports that a NATO-backed study of Baltic-Chinese relations has concluded. This study focused on the public opinions of Baltic residents towards the far-away superpower. In the last decade China’s economic, military and political authority has increased very rapidly. This superpower’s influence is felt in regions within which this country had minimal…
In November, the average electricity price, when compared with October, increased by 20%, according to Latvenergo Electricity Market review. Last week the average electricity price went down by 51% in the Baltic States. A tendency for electricity prices to decline has been observed over the last two months. This changed in November: the price in…