PKN has 84.36% of Mazeikiu, takeover bid expected. According to an announcement by Mazeikiu, PKN became the holder of 596,834,352 shares of Mazeikiu Nafta on Friday (84.36%). The total price paid amounted to USD 2.343b. Also, CEO of PKN Orlen, Igor Chalupec was elected the Chairman of the Board of Mazeikiu Nafta. At the same time, Polish daily Rzeczpospolita speculates that Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, former Polish PM, may become the new CEO of PKN Orlen. The company also said in its stock exchange release it will submit a takeover bid to acquire the residual shares of Mazeikiu Nafta.
Starman's DTT launch successful. Estonian cableTV provider Starman launched digital terrestrial television (DTT) services at the beginning of December. On Friday, the company announced that they have run short of set-top boxes (STB) necessary for the new service. In the last couple of weeks, Starman has already installed 1,500 STB's. Before Christmas, the company hopes to receive another 10,000 STB's. Longer term goal set by the company is to have ca 50,000 customers in two years. Hence, DTT will not have a significant impact on Starman's performance in short term. However, in longer term, revenue from the new service will cover the fixed costs and probably add another income source.
Apranga store opening. The Lithuanian clothing retailer opened an Apranga (whole family concept) store in Marijampole town in Lithuania, which is the 18th store opened this year. In addition to luxury stores in the Baltic capitals, the company also focuses on the economic segment in regional centres. Apranga stores are intended for entire family and offer garments manufactured by largest European companies and broad variety of Lithuanian manufacturers. Currently, the company operates a chain of 65 stores, and another three stores are expected this year.
Olympic opens new casino. The Estonian casino operator Olympic Casino opened its 22nd casino in Estonia (40 slots, 3 jackpot systems, bar). The total investment amounted to EEK 14.4m (ca EUR 1m). At the end of Q3, Olympic had 73 casinos in 5 countries; at the moment, they have 77 casinos and in the next couple of months, the number should increase to ca 83-88, according to the company (Q3 report).
Real estate prices falling in Tallinn. According to BBN, the average price per square meter in Tallinn has recently been falling between EEK 1000 and 3000. The biggest decrease in prices has been for one-room apartments, which now cost in average EEK 24,900 per square meter, while in Q2 the average price was EEK 27,700 per square meter.
Ukraine November GDP up 8.2%. According to Ukrainian Statistical Office, November real gross domestic product grew by 8.2% y-o-y. During the period of January-November, GDP went up by 6.7% y-o-y to UAH 452,939m (EUR 69,68m). The main growth drivers were retail trade (+15.6% y-o-y), transportation (9.8%), production and distribution of electricity, gas and water (+7%).