Company briefs - 2004-03-11

Snaige opened its long-awaited refrigerator factory in Kaliningrad on March 9.

The blue chip company invested over 40 million litas (11.6 million euros) in the plant, which will manufacture refrigerators under the Snaige trademark for export to Russia and Ukraine. Capacity of the new factory will be about 350,000 units, compared with 450,000 units at its headquarters in Alytus. The company, which boosted January-February sales by 4.7 percent year-on-year, is targeting a 10 percent - 20 percent share of Russia's refrigerator market.

One of Finland's largest travel agencies KohdematkatKaleva acquired 100 percent of the Estonian travel agency Hermann Reisid (Hermann Travel). Officials said that Hermann Reisid would carry on business as usual and that the name of the firm would not change. KohdematkatKaleva, which posted sales of 250 million euros last year, said it wanted to become a leader on the Baltic market of recreational and business travel. Founded in 1991, Hermann Travel is the second-largest travel agency in Estonia.

Following the trend of other local retailers, Lithuanian garment maker Lelija is set to open four new stores in Ukraine this year. "We have chosen Ukraine rather than Poland for our further expansion because of lower competition, which determines higher prices. Our investments in every store will return sooner," Andrius Zaveckas, a company adviser, said.