Uvic, an Estonian producer of frozen meat dumplings, announced that it has acquired Daugavpils Galas Kombinats, a Latvian meat-packer. The size of the deal was not released. Currently Uvic is the Baltics' largest frozen foods manufacturer, and the purchase of the Latvian company could help it enter the sausages and smoked foods market, Kristjan Alakula, marketing manager, said. In 2006, Uvic sold 99 percent of its output on the local market.
Poland's PKN Orlen said it wanted to gain a 20 percent share of the Lithuanian and Latvian retail fuel markets by 2012. The company will invest 200 million euros in expanding retail operations in the two countries, of which 4 million euros will go toward marketing for the launching of new brands, the company's vice-president for sales, Wojciech Heydel, said. In Lithuania, the company will introduce the Orlen Lietuva brand, replacing the existing Ventus brand, while in Latvia, the chain will operate under the Orlen Latvija brand. PKN Orlen expects to open 120 new filling stations 's acquiring 20 existing stations in Lithuania, 25 in Latvia, and building 75 from scratch 's within the next five years, bringing the total number of stations to around 230. Heydel added that PKN Orlen did not rule out expanding into Estonia but had no specific plans to do so at the moment.
The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts chain, said it wanted to open 50 hotels in Russia, CIS countries and the Baltics in the next few years. "Rezidor sees great potential in Russia and CIS countries, and we have been making investments for the development of our activities in that area over several years," managing director Kurt Riter said. In 2007 to 2009 the company plans to have 20,000 new hotel rooms in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Rezidor Hotel Group currently has 309 hotels working or under development, with a total of 63,000 rooms in 48 countries.
