The Baltic states regained independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991. The years before had been marked by economic hardship, food shortages and high inflation. When the new governments set out to reform the economies and introduce market-based economic systems a key objective was therefore to support economic growth and raise living standards towards levels in Western Europe. The convergence path turned out to be more twisted and challenging than anticipated.

As Klaipedos Nafta (Klaipeda Oil) is thinking about what to do with the Klaipeda LNG terminal's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), named Independence, after its lease contract expires in 2024, analysts and market participants say that Lithuania will continue to need liquefied natural gas, but green energy supporters argue that the long-term outlook for the fuel is uncertain.

City Service, a property administration and maintenance group owned by Lithuania's Icor, has purchased Jenasa, a provider of administration services to apartment building associations in Madrid, for 1 million euros as it continues to invest in Spain.

Statistics Lithuania informs that in III quarter 2017, country’s gross domestic product (GDP), estimated based on available statistical data and econometric models, amounted to EUR 11.3 billion at current prices.

All Baltic ports together handled 112.499 million tons of cargo in January-September this year, up 4.1% or 4.395 million tons from the same period in 2016, informs LETA, according to the data released by the Latvian Central Statistical Bureau.

A 28-million-euro liquefied natural gas (LNG) reloading station will be officially opened in Klaipeda on Friday, exactly three years after the Independence floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) arrived in the Lithuanian port from a South Korean shipyard.

Inflation in Lithuania may be stabilized next year after a recent jump in consumer prices, with rising wages expected to remain the key inflation driver.

Vilnius-based venture capital fund Open Circle Capital will invest up to 20 million euros in Lithuanian startups and in the development of new technologies and their commercialization.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Swedbank on the basis of the COSME multi-country agreement of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) increased the funding of small and medium sized companies in the Baltic countries by 160 million euros to 325 million euros.

Amalva Baltija, a ventilation system and equipment company of Audrius Menkevicius, is investing EUR 10 million in a factory in Riga and Amalva, another company owned by the Lithuanian, is investing EUR 5 million in production and administrative buildings in Vilnius, the business daily Verslo Zinios reported on October 26th.