Baltic States
Estonia orders closure of Danske Bank’s local branch after money laundering scandal
The branch was revealed to have funnelled billions of euros in a massive breach of national and EU anti-money-laundering regulations.
_(1)_1550133352.png)
Lithuanian current account surplus falls in December
Lithuania’s current account showed a deficit of €246.46mn in December, the Bank of Lithuania reported on February 14.
Poland concedes setback in quest to stop Nord Stream 2
Warsaw's hopes of stopping the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline were dashed, as Germany and France pushed through a compromise wording of amendments to EU’s gas market rules that will result in the weakening of the bloc’s joint control.
Lithuania wary of Russian meddling in busy election season
As European, local, parliamentary, and presidential elections are all due in 2019 and 2020, EU and Nato member Lithuania will be the focus of Russia’s disruptive activity, the Baltic state’s security agency VSD and the ministry of defence warn.
Latvian economy expands 5.5% y/y in Q4
The result shows the Latvian economy maintained its adjusted annual growth rate seen in the third quarter.
Lithuanian GDP growth pushes to 3.6% y/y in Q4 and 2018 alike
Growth benefitted from “solid domestic consumption, active investments and surprisingly strong external sector in a wake of slowing global growth,” according to Swedbank.
_Cropped_0.jpg)
Latvian anti-corruption officers raid Riga city hall, mayor’s home
Searches follow probe into tenders at municipal transport company Rigas Satiksme, but mayor Nils Usakovs says he is innocent and will not step down.
_6_3_1548916011.png)
Retail turnover flat in Estonia in December
The turnover of retail trade companies remained flat year-on-year in Estonia in December (measured in constant prices), at €667.9mn, Statistics Estonia said on January 30.
HEATMAP: Russia and Ukraine battle it out for title of most corrupt country in Europe
Russia recaptured the dubious title of “most corrupt country in Eastern Europe” after it slipped three places in this year’s Transparency International Corruption Perceptions index, falling to 138th place out of 180 countries.
Regulator blocks Latvian rail company from closing €225mn electric train deal
Two failed bidders complained over Pasazieru Vilciens’ deal to buy 32 electric trains from Spain's Talgo.
Latvian political deadlock ends as Karins government wins majority
Former economy minister Krisjans Karins' government will put cleaning up the country’s financial sector top of its priority list.
Russia drops two places on Bloomberg innovation ranking
Despite the hype surrounding the state digitisation programme, Russia fell to 27th place in the global innovative rankings produced by Bloomberg, but was still the third best in Emerging Europe.
Eastern EU member states lag in robotisation
Faced with a growing labour shortage, companies from Central and Eastern Europe are investing into industrial robots, but Eurostat data shows they still lag behind their western peers.