The overall passenger traffic in Lithuania edged down by 0.1% in 2017 compared with 2016 to 385.682 million, according to estimates released by the country's statistics office on February 22nd.

Some 49% of businessmen in Lithuania are happy with the business building conditions in the country, while 38% say the conditions are unsatisfactory, shows a survey of businessmen conducted by exports promotion agency Enterprise Lithuania.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Lithuania's long-term rating at A-, with a stable outlook. The rating has been unchanged since 2014.

UAB Merko Statyba, the Lithuanian subsidiary of the listed Estonian construction group AS Merko Ehitus, has started the construction of a three-storey apartment building in the Old Town of Vilnius which is to be complete by the end of 2019.

Lithuania's annual construction output growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was among the biggest in the European Union, figures from the EU statistical office Eurostat showed on February 19th.

Lithuania's laser company Eksma, together with its South Korean partners, has established a subsidiary to manufacture laser medical equipment for Europe, the business daily Verslo Zinios reported on February 13th.

Sweden's human resource technology company Benify is opening a service center in Vilnius, with plans to employ content and transaction management and customer service professionals in the Lithuanian capital over the coming years, Invest Lithuania said on February 14th.

Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, or LG) said that the revenue of the state-run company for January of 2018 rose by 4.8% year-on-year to reach 36.8 million euros.

Statistics Lithuania informs that in IV quarter 2017, the volume of construction work carried out in the country amounted to EUR 813.6 million at current prices, and against the previous period, seasonally and calendar adjusted, increased by 2.5% (unadjusted – increased by 8%). Over a quarter, the volume of building construction increased by 0.7, civil engineering structures – 4.7% (unadjusted – by 8.9 and 7.2% respectively).

One of the main Vilnius district characteristics is business traction, as it attracts potential investors. The number of registered and operating economic entities in Vilnius district municipality is growing every year since 2004. Meanwhile, the number of operating economic entities in Vilnius County decreased in 2018.