airBaltic Celebrates 30 Years of Connecting Riga and Tallinn
Riga/Tallinn. At the beginning of 2026, the Latvian airline airBaltic marks 30 years of operations on the route between its home base, Riga and its base in Tallinn. The first airBaltic flight from the Latvian capital to the Estonian capital took place on January 30, 1996, thus marking an important milestone in the airline’s early network development and strengthening air connectivity within the Baltics and between Estonia and the wider region.
Mantas Vrubliauskas, Vice President Network Management at airBaltic: “For three decades, our operations between the two capitals have contributed to stronger connectivity for Estonia, supporting both business and leisure travel. Over the years, airBaltic has steadily grown its presence in Tallinn, and today we offer a strong and competitive network of direct routes from the city. As the leading airline in the Baltic region, we remain committed to providing reliable connectivity for our passengers while continuing to explore new opportunities to further strengthen links across the Baltics. We also extend sincere thanks to our long-standing partners, RIX Riga Airport and Tallinn Airport, for their continued cooperation and support in airBaltic’s development.”
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Originally published on 30 Jan
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AtoB@C Shipping, a subsidiary of ESL Shipping, is pleased to announce the successful delivery of Fleximar, the ninth vessel in its Green Coaster series, on December 18.
The Green Coaster series represents a new generation of energy-efficient vessels designed to meet the highest standards of operational performance and environmental responsibility. Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, Fleximar will contribute to substantial reductions in emissions and fuel consumption, supporting AtoB@C Shipping’s strategic objective of achieving a modern, low-emission fleet.
“Fleximar and the entire Green Coaster series bring exceptional versatility to our fleet. These vessels can transport a wide range of cargoes from bulk commodities and steel products to large project cargo such as wind turbine components. With their ice class 1A, we can ensure year-round reliability and deliver low-emission solutions to our customers across the Baltic and North Sea,” says Frida Rowland, Director, Business Unit Coasters.
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Originally published on 19 Dec
The new energy group EPSO-G has announced a selection process for board members of its subsidiary Energy cells. Candidates are invited to submit their applications by January 30, 2026.
Three board members will be selected: an independent board member with expertise in financial management and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), a board member nominated by EPSO-G, responsible for strategic planning and management, and a board member who is a civil servant, responsible for state aid and national security issues.
Energy Cells plays an important role in ensuring the security and resilience of the Lithuanian energy system by providing the system with the necessary isolated working reserve service. In order to consistently implement the strategic goals of the company and the entire EPSO-G group, we seek to attract professionals of the highest competence to the board,” says Mindaugas Keizeris, head of EPSO-G.
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Originally published on 18 Dec
RWE has signed an agreement with PGE for the sale of its F.E.W. Baltic II offshore wind development project in the Polish Baltic Sea. The wind farm has a planned capacity of 350 megawatts and will be located approximately 50 kilometres from shore, north of the Polish town of Ustka. The transaction is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2026. The parties already completed the transfer of an Environmental Decision and related data for the adjacent wind development site 44.E.1. to PGE.
RWE remains fully committed to further support the Polish energy transition by developing, constructing and operating a diverse pipeline of renewable energy projects across Poland. Today, the company already operates onshore wind and solar farms with a combined capacity of more than 660 megawatts in the country.
Sven Utermöhlen, Chief Executive Officer RWE Offshore Wind: “We are convinced that, in synergy with their other portfolio, PGE is better positioned to realise this project than RWE would be on a standalone basis. However, our target to further grow our offshore wind portfolio remains unchanged. We are currently building four large-scale offshore wind farms in four European countries and have several further offshore projects under development.”
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Originally published on 18 Dec
Latvian tech company Datakom and its specialised artificial intelligence division, AI Datacenter Engineers, have created the first private high-performance supercomputer cluster designed to run and train artificial intelligence models. This step marks a new era in the region’s technological independence, offering companies and public institutions the opportunity to develop AI solutions in a secure environment right here in Latvia.
Datakom’s supercomputer cluster consists of a combination of two systems, capable of reaching a performance of two petaflops. In other words, the system is capable of performing two quadrillion calculations per second. With such capacity, it can, for example, run AI-based video processing and analysis systems, host a local AI chatbot using models with 400 billion parameters, or be used as a local software development and analysis assistant.
“This is a real, full-fledged supercomputer that is now available to any company in the Baltics. Compared to Apple’s currently most powerful Studio computer, which has 100 CPU cores, this supercomputer has 12.3 thousand computing cores connected via an exceptionally fast data-transfer network, thus enabling near real-time operation between processors,” says Datakom’s Head of Business Development, Edijs Tanons. He notes that not so long ago—back in 2020—such performance was available only to the world’s wealthiest companies, which could afford to use one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world. Today, technological progress makes it possible to democratise this enormous computing power, including by making it available in Latvia.
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Originally published on 18 Dec
The project will support Tallinn Airport’s long-term development by increasing capacity, improving the passenger experience, and enhancing operational efficiency. By strengthening international air connectivity, the expansion will contribute to the growth of Estonia’s business and tourism sectors.
In 2024, Tallinn Airport served 3.5 million passengers, exceeding its current design capacity of 3 million. To respond to rising demand, the expansion will increase annual capacity to up to 5.5 million passengers, ensuring the airport can continue to operate efficiently and comfortably as traffic grows.
“We highly value our long-standing relationship with NIB, whose support has been instrumental in advancing essential infrastructure across the Nordic–Baltic region. Their confidence in our development plans is an important recognition of the work we are doing to ensure Tallinn Airport can grow sustainably and continue serving passengers at the highest level,” said Anneli Turkin, CFO of Tallinn Airport.
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Originally published on 19 Dec
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting Lithuania’s green transition and capital market innovation with a €50 million landmark investment in the country’s first green asset backed securitisation, originated by ILTE, Lithuania’s national development bank, as part of a €112 million issuance.
This pioneering transaction is the first true sale green securitisation in the Baltic states, setting a new benchmark for sustainable finance. Backed by ILTE’s portfolio of performing energy-efficiency loans, the notes have achieved a AAA rating from two leading international agencies and have been listed on the Nasdaq Vilnius exchange.
By transforming energy-efficiency loans into investable securities, the transaction introduces innovative market-based instruments and shows the strength of Lithuania’s recently reformed securitisation framework. It also creates a replicable model for attracting long-term institutional capital, boosting investor confidence and accelerating the development of the region’s capital markets.
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Originally published on 19 Dec
With the conclusion of its third edition, GameTech has firmly established itself as a cornerstone of Lithuania’s video game ecosystem, marking a significant milestone in the country’s strategy to position games as a high-impact creative and technological industry.
Since its launch, GameTech, an initiative led by the Lithuanian government together with Startup Lithuania and powered by GameBCN, has acted as a catalyst for emerging and growing game studios, combining acceleration, international expertise, and ecosystem building. Across its three editions, the program has demonstrated both scale and depth in its impact. Over the course of the program’s history, more than 250 teams applied, reflecting the strong demand for specialized support in the gaming sector. From these, 32 teams were selected to participate, representing a diverse range of studios at different stages of development, from early concepts to companies preparing for global scale-up.
GameTech has delivered over 1,000 hours of mentoring and training, provided by an international network of industry experts covering game production, business development, publishing, monetization, and investment readiness. This intensive support has been complemented by 24 public events, including masterclasses, open days, demo days, and play-testing sessions, designed not only to accelerate teams but also to strengthen the broader Lithuanian gaming community and its visibility.
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Originally published on 19 Dec
Starting in 2026, the first Finnish Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighters will arrive in Finland, and the first fighter was presented on 16th December 2026 in Texas.
The F-35 fighters will strengthen Finland’s defense capability and security of supply for decades to come. A total of 64 F-35 fighters will be delivered to Finland.
As a strategic partner of the Finnish Defence Forces, Insta supports the building of the Defence Forces’ capabilities throughout the life-cycle of the systems. So far, Insta has been responsible for the maintenance of the avionics systems on the Hornet fighter jets. As a long-term partner, Insta’s cooperation with the Defence Forces will continue for decades into the F-35 era.
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Originally published on 15 Dec
The Port of Klaipėda handled nearly 36 million tonnes of cargo over the first eleven months of the year, maintaining double-digit growth compared to the same period last year. Growth was driven by containerised cargo, ro-ro freight transported by ferries, and liquefied natural gas (LNG), with Klaipėda remaining the leading port among the Baltic States.
Over the first eleven months of this year, nearly 12 million tonnes of containerised cargo were handled at the Port of Klaipėda, representing a 29% increase compared to the same period last year. Containerised cargo accounts for 33% of the port’s total cargo throughput this year.
Since the beginning of the year, almost 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) have been handled at the Port of Klaipėda, which is a 23% increase year-on-year. The milestone of one million TEUs was reached earlier than ever before in the port’s history — in October. Traditionally, Klaipėda would join the “millionaire ports” in December.
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Originally published on 18 Dec
From December 15, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) will begin accepting project applications for the foreign film and major event support program with total funding of €10.7 million over a two-year period. Applications will be accepted until January 30, 2026.
The program helps Latvia compete internationally by attracting new film projects and encouraging event organizers in Latvia to hold international events that attract large numbers of foreign visitors.
The program aims to promote the export of services, raise Latvia’s profile, and generate long-term economic benefits by using Latvia as a platform for film production and international events.
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Originally published on 16 Dec