Nordea and DNB's combined bank in the Baltics will be called Luminor, the two banks announced yesterday.

A consortium of Latvia's minibus passenger service operator Rigas Mikroautobusu Satiksme (RMS) and Lithuania's intercity minibus service operator Transrevis will operate one-tenth of Vilnius' public transport service routes after winning one of two parts of a tender announced by the Lithuanian capital to select private passenger service providers.

Lithuanian businessmen are actively receiving offers to move their businesses to Estonia – they are promised a zero tariff on undistributed profits and saving possibility, as well as all company founding procedures finalized within a day. However, tax advisers say that even if the move slips by the State Tax Inspectorate, the taxes paid in Estonia may be even higher than in Lithuania.

The European Commission continues its leading role in the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, in line with its wider efforts in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

All Baltic ports together handled 13.468 mln tons of cargo in January this year, up by 3.2 % or 422,000 tons from the same month in 2016, according to the data released by the Latvian Central Statistical Bureau.

Lithuania's fertilizer manufacturer Achema, the country's single largest natural gas consumer, and Klaipedos Nafta (Klaipeda Oil) have agreed on capacities of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. Achema's CEO, however, refused to disclose the date of arrival of the first LNG shipment for Achema this year.

Lithuania's electricity and natural gas distribution company Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (Energy Distribution Operator, or ESO) intends to pay 51.786 million euros in dividend, or 0.0579 euros per share, for the second quarter of 2016.

Lithuania's refrigerator manufacturer Snaige, which is part of Russia's Polair group, last year netted 1.207 mln euros in unaudited consolidated profit, up by a factor of 2.7, from 444,900 euros, in 2015.

After Lithuania imported cheaper energy from the Nordic states and generating more from renewable resources, electricity prices on the Nord Pool Spot's Lithuanian bidding area last week declined by 16% to 31.99 euros per megawatt-hour from a week earlier.

Statistics Lithuania informs that in IV quarter 2016 average gross monthly earnings in the whole economy (excl. individual enterprises) totalled EUR 822.8: in the public sector2 – EUR 849.7, in the private – EUR 809.1. Against III quarter 2016, average gross monthly earnings in the whole economy increased by 3.7%: in the public sector – by 5.3%, in the private – by 2.8%.