Estonia

Experts caution against speculating over possible effects of Trump tariffs

January 21, 2025

It is hard at this point in time to assess the impact of newly inaugurated President of the United States Donald Trump on the global and European economies, some economic [..]

Estonia

Pärnu County-based knitted fabrics maker winding up business

August 25, 2024

AS Qualitex, a knitted fabrics manufacturer that has been in business in Sindi, Pärnu County, for almost three decades, is shutting down and will lay off the 34 employees it [..]

Lithuania

Novaturas forecasts annual EBITDA loss of EUR 2 mln, mulls bond issue

August 24, 2024

Novaturas, one of Lithuania’s biggest tour operators, forecast a net loss of 1.5-3.5 million euros for the whole year after recording a net loss of 2.3 million euros in the [..]

Estonia

People of Estonia predominantly opposed to VAT, income tax, fuel excise duty hikes

July 25, 2024

According to the results of a survey commissioned by the the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, the vast majority of Estonian citizens do not support the planned VAT, [..]

Estonia

Hotels and restaurants grapple with another year of falling tourist numbers

July 4, 2024

This summer in Tallinn is shaping up to be even poorer than 2023’s already disappointing showing, “Aktuaalne kaamera” (AK) reported Wednesday, with falling visitor figures and lower hotels and restaurants [..]

Latvia

Rail Baltica is in such a deep hole that it could have a fundamental impact on the current national budget – Kulbergs

July 2, 2024

The Rail Baltica project is in such a deep hole that it could fundamentally affect the current state budget, said MP Andris Kulbergs (United List), chairman of the Saeima Parliamentary [..]

Estonia

Study: Legalization of cannabis would bring EUR 50 mln annually to Estonian state budget

June 21, 2024

With the legalization of cannabis, the state’s revenues would increase by 56 million and expenses by 10 million euros, new jobs would be created and the cost of law enforcement [..]

Latvia

Number of tourists in Riga might grow 15% this year – Riga Investment and Tourism Agency

June 12, 2024

Riga could receive 15 percent more visitors this year than last year, when 1.2 million foreign visitors arrived in the Latvian capital, Ieva Lasmane, the head of the tourism department [..]

Estonia

S&P downgrades 3 Baltic countries due to war in Ukraine

June 3, 2024

Rating agency S&P announced on Friday that it had downgraded the ratings of the three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, citing the effects of the war in Ukraine and [..]

Estonia

New plan would see registration tax also hit second-hand cars bought in Estonia

May 2, 2024

The government needs to change its car tax plan to make sure it meets European Union rules. The latest plan would see the registration fee apply also to second-hand vehicles [..]

Estonia

Estonian car sales market decreased by nearly one-fifth; most popular – Toyota, Skoda, VW

April 3, 2024

In March, the sales volumes of cars and commercial vehicles in Estonia decreased by nearly one-fifth, or 20.6 percent, compared to the same period last year, with a quarterly decline [..]

Estonia

Estonian fuel sellers implement significant price hike

March 26, 2024

Estonian motor fuel retailers sharply raised their prices on Monday with the price per liter of gasoline increasing by 9 cents, Postimees reports. The price for a liter of 95-octane [..]

Estonia

Implementation of lemonade tax to cost state EUR 5 mln

March 21, 2024

The introduction of the planned lemonade tax will cost the state five million euros, which is the cost of IT solutions and tax collection, the Estonian daily Postimees writes. The [..]

Lithuania

Belarus’ import ban expected to affect only individual Lithuanian companies

March 15, 2024

Business representatives say that Belarus’ ban on a range of imports from Lithuania in retaliation for its closure of two more border checkpoints will only affect individual companies. A spokesman [..]

Estonia

Statistics: Hotel guest numbers in Estonia down slightly this January

March 8, 2024

According to data provided by Statistics Estonia, this January, accommodation establishments in Estonia served nearly 194,000 tourists. This was 1 percent fewer than in January 2023. The number of domestic [..]

Latvia

Cooperation suspended between Latvenergo and RWE in the development of offshore wind farms

March 6, 2024

Latvenergo and the German energy company RWE have suspended cooperation in the development of offshore wind parks, and Latvenergo has found a new partner for this project, Martins Cakste, Chairman [..]

Estonia

Survey: Only 6 out of 100 residents in Estonia not concerned over rising food prices

March 6, 2024

A poll taken for Citadele Bank in January revealed that only six Estonian residents out of 100 are not bothered by the rise in food prices. Food prices rose by [..]

Estonia

Omniva to cut 75 jobs in Estonia

February 1, 2024

Citing a difficult economic situation, Estonia’s state-owned postal service and logistics company Omniva announced on Wednesday that it is about to make 75 jobs redundant in Estonia. The collective redundancies [..]

Estonia

Number of collective redundancy notice recipients grows to 3,500 last year

January 12, 2024

During the past year, a total of 3,538 employees of 124 employers received final collective redundancy notices, compared to 84 employers and 2,871 employees in the previous year. Nearly a [..]

Estonia

Total damage involving motor insurance totals EUR 72 mln in 2023

January 12, 2024

According to the statistics of the Estonian Motor Insurance Bureau (LKF), there were 34,300 motor insurance cases with a total damage of 72 million euros in Estonia in 2023. Additionally, [..]

Latvia

Ban on Russian grain imports and transit could cost port and rail sector EUR 100 million – Agriculture Ministry

January 8, 2024

Banning the import and transit of Russian grain could cause losses of EUR 100 million for the Latvian port and rail transport sectors, according to an informative report on the [..]

Estonia

LHV expert: Rising deposit rates have led Estonian residents to cut consumption

January 5, 2024

Heido Vitsur, expert at LHV, said in his comments on retail data for November that the rise in interest rates on term deposits in banks to to 4-4.5 percent has [..]

Estonia

High Euribor drives lumber prices in Estonia to lowest in years

January 1, 2024

Over the past year, all kinds of prices in Estonia have seen largely sharp increases – but lumber prices have halved. Behind this particular drop is the same factor troubling [..]

Estonia

Estonia’s e-residency program has delivered over EUR 200 mln in state revenue

December 1, 2023

The Estonian e-residency program, which is celebrating its ninth anniversary on Friday, has seen its cumulative contribution to the national budget exceed 200 million euros. The program is moving towards [..]

Interviews

Adven Baltics – new natural gas supply chains promise cheaper district heating prices in the coming winter than last year in Estonia

November 28, 2023

Journalist’s Ain Alvela interview with Juhan Aguraiuja, the head of Adven Baltics, which provides district heating services in Estonia and also in Latvia, Finland and Sweden The upcoming winter and [..]

Estonia

Nearly 19,800 people receive unemployment insurance benefit in Estonia in Q3; average unemployment insurance benefit – 684 euros

November 22, 2023

19,799 people received an unemployment insurance benefit in the third quarter of this year, 24 percent more than during the same quarter last year and 0.2 percent more than in [..]

Interviews

Estonian society is not feeling the crisis yet, but the industry is struggling

November 14, 2023

Journalist’s Ain Alvela interview with Mihkel Nestor, an economic analyst at SEB Bank Over the past three years, the Estonian economy has been hit by several setbacks – while after [..]

Estonia

Estonian bank: Number of foreign tourists growing less quickly

November 9, 2023

The number of foreign tourists in Estonia is growing less quickly and has still yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, according to data by the Bank of Estonia. Trips [..]

Estonia

Eesti Energia generated two thirds of their sales revenue abroad

November 3, 2023

The sales revenue of Eesti Energia Group in the third quarter amounted to 408 million euros, of which 66% was generated outside Estonia. The Group’s normalised net profit in Q3 [..]

Latvia

Cargo turnover at Riga Port down 18.5% in first nine months

October 16, 2023

The Freeport of Riga handled 14.105 million tons of cargo in the first nine months of 2023, a decrease of 18.5 percent against the corresponding period in 2022, according to [..]

Latvia

Latvia’s government’s tax policy proposals threaten existence of several industries – business organization

October 3, 2023

The tax policy proposals for 2024-2026 supported by the new government threaten the ability of several industries not only to compete, but also to exist, according to a statement released [..]