Statistics Lithuania informs that, based on provisional data, in December 2014, the turnover (VAT excluded) of retail trade enterprises* amounted to EUR 842.3 million; against November, it increased by 19.2% at constant prices (seasonally adjusted – increased by 0.1%).

On 19-25 January 2o15, the average electricity price in Nord Pool Spot power market Lithuanian trading zone was EUR 41.14 per megawatt hour (MWh). Milder winter in North Europe and cheaper electricity from Finland led to a 6% price drop in Lithuanian and Latvia trading zones compared to the previous week.

A total of 463 entrepreneurs were financed by the Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund (VSF) in 2014 in Lithuania, or by 55% more than in 2013. Young people aged up to 29 years old were the most enterprising.

President Dalia Grybauskaite, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, discussed investment opportunities in Lithuania with representatives of global companies and influential business people.

In November 2014, compared to October, the prices of exported goods in Lithuania decreased by 1%, while the prices of imported goods went down by 1.8%.

After the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to turn on the euro printing machine, bank DNB analysts say that even extended quantitative easing (QE) will not directly solve problems of the euro area as the roots of slow economic development lie within the loss of competitiveness.

Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) announces that the world leading operator of exchanges and provider of capital markets technology, will create a new technology and business support competence center in Vilnius.

According to the data of the Lithuanian Geological Survey (LGT) under the Ministry of Environment, the Silute-Taurage area is promising for the extraction of hydrocarbons, especially oil. Hence it is planned to announce a tender for the exploration and extraction of these resources.

Although during the International Green Week Berlin Russia's representatives spoke about lifting food product embargo to some members of the European Union, Lithuania did not make it to this list.

In December 2014, the external assets of the Bank of Lithuania increased by EUR 722.6 million (LTL 2.5 billion), while external liabilities decreased by EUR 17.6 million (LTL 60.7 million). At the end of the month, these indicators amounted to EUR 7.9 billion and EUR 76.4 million respectively (LTL 27.3 billion and LTL 263.8 million respectively), the Bank of Lithuania said.