S U M M E R 2022
5.99 €
Sanctions on Russia | 52
Economic costs and expected effects Energy | 58
The Baltic states are looking forward to the wind Business location | 64
Vilnius – on the innovation track
Cover Story | 28
German-Baltic Business Award
The future belongs to smart mobility
Discover the best Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian companies in this field
22 | MY OFFICE
Framed ribbons from store openings in Latvia and Estonia. The longawaited moments that came true on 7 October 2021 and 4 March this year. Such energy and drive! I still feel it when looking at these captured moments.
Laptop – starting with daily news, followed by an analysis of our KPIs and daily operations, video calls and online meetings. The laptop is an extension of my hands and an integral part of daily business.
Photo: Matīss Markovskis
MY OFFICE | 23
JAKOB JOSEFSSON
CEO OF LIDL LATVIJA AND LIDL EESTI People are the backbone of the company. These images of employer branding campaigns in 2 markets with the aim of recruiting our store and warehouse teams are very important to me. There was so much passion, devotion and hard work.
Today, the company counts almost 3,000 employees in Latvia and Estonia– an international team that speaks more than 15 languages. Recently, Lidl teams in Latvia and Estonia also welcomed Ukrainians fleeing the war. “We are a truly international company as you can see by the number of languages spoken in our teams. German is the operational language for us, followed by Latvian, Estonian and English on daily basis”, reveals Jakob Josefsson, CEO of Lidl Latvija and Lidl Eesti. This is the seventh year that Jakob has called the Baltics his home, dividing his time between Estonia and Latvia as equally as possible.
What drives me to come to work are the people. The days are dynamic, full of good energy and genuine laughter is always here too!
We meet at his Riga office, which is an integral part of the logistics centre in Dreiliņi. Awarded the International Green Office certificate for the second year, the Lidl office in Riga is compact and has a corporate feel, which is tangible in the
corridors, kitchen, and lobby when you walk in. “It is a fantastic advantage to be one step away from the warehouse where the actual business is bubbling, goods are being received and store orders completed”, admits Jakob. Often “on wheels” between two markets, he enjoys the moments to meet his teammates in presence. “We showed we were a strong team during the peak of pandemic, working mostly remotely, and we are now enjoying being back at the office and balancing our remote and office work. Teamwork has an integral meaning at Lidl, and it means a lot to me so I like the open door principle at my office and try to stick to it”, stresses Jakob. His Monday morning routine starts quite early, between 7 and 8 am with some early store visits. “It is very important because stores are the way how we represent ourselves towards the customers”, he believes. Then it’s back to office for some black coffee and the first calls.
Europe’s largest retailer and part of the global Schwarz Group based in Neckarsulm, Germany, Lidl started its operations in Latvia in 2018 by founding the local enterprise Lidl Latvija. The Estonian office was opened a year later. In the middle of the global pandemic in January 2021, Lidl recorded a significant milestone by opening the regional logistics centre in Riga to start operations across Latvia and Estonia. On 7 October 2021, the first 15 stores opened their doors to customers in Latvia. Three more followed and several are in construction heading towards further expansion of the network. In early March of 2022, Lidl successfully launched operations in Estonia too, with its first eight stores across the country.
28 | B U S I N E S S A W A R D
German-Baltic Business Award 2022 highlights mobility solutions The winner of the German-Baltic Business Award 2022 is EyeVi Technologies with its road network intelligence platform
The
German-Baltic Business Award is presented annually by the GermanBaltic Chamber of Commerce (AHK) to innovative companies in the Baltic states. Awards are given to local companies that have shown special initiative in the areas of design, quality, production or export, as well as maintaining relations with Germany, such as in the form of partners or target markets. Every year, the awards ceremony has a special theme and in 2022 the theme of this award was smart mobility and logistics. The German-Baltic Business Award was open to all Baltic-based companies that operate in intelligent transport systems, smart logistics and mobility. They can include private as well as state-owned companies but must be located in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. The submitted applications were evaluated by a competent and expert jury, consisting of high-ranking industry representatives from Germany:
The three winners of the German-Baltic Business Award 2022 (from left) Jevgenij Polonis, GoRamp, Mihkel Lehtmets, EyeVi Technologies, Artūrs Burņins, ATOM Mobility
Prof. Dr. Peer Witten, Member of the Supervisory Board of Otto Group and Honorary President at German Logistic Association (BVL), Dr. Dirk Claus, Managing Director at Port of Kiel, Carolin Reichert, Vice President Product Area - eMobility Solutions at Robert Bosch, Kristian Bock, Managing Director at TSC Beratende Ingenieure für Verkehrswesen GmbH and Board Member of Associations VIV - Verband der Ingenieurbüros für Verkehrstechnik e. V. and ITS Germany e. V., and Florian Schröder, CEO of AHK. After online
pitching by the 9 finalists, the jury awarded bronze to GoRamp from Lithuania, silver to ATOM Mobility from Latvia, and the gold medal to EyeVi Technologies from Estonia. The three winners of the GermanBaltic Business Award were invited to participate in the 3rd GermanBaltic Digital Summit (read more on pages 74-75) and the IT-forBusiness trade fair in Lübeck on 11 May 2022. The winner of the German-Baltic Business Awards received the prize from the hands of the President of Latvia Egils Levits.
Photos: Olaf Malzahn, Liva Melbarzde
by LĪVA MELBĀR ZDE
B U S I N E S S A W A R D | 29
All three winners on stage (in the middle), together with (from left) Māris Balčūns, Office Manager AHK in Latvia, the President of Latvia Egils Levits, Prof. Dr. Peer Witten, Member of the Supervisory Board of Otto Group and Florian Schröder, CEO, AHK
As a member of the jury, I was deeply impressed by the innovations and projects which were presented by Baltic companies. It was a challenge to choose a winner because all projects have positive impacts on mobility, logistics or transportation,” Carolin Reichert, Vice President Product Area eMobility Solutions at Robert Bosch
The three award winners on stage – they don’t know yet who will get the gold medal. The CEO of AHK Baltics Florian Schröder keeps the tension in the audience.
After a job well done, one can also share the good news with colleagues, friends and family at home
ATOM Mobility receives silver
EyeVi Technologies road network intelligence platform gets the gold from the hands of Latvian President Egils Levits
GoRamp receives bronze
30 | B E S T I N B U S I N E S S
Everyone is collecting data about the city, the Earth, about everything. But nobody is currently going into the small details of road infrastructure. EyeVi offers other approach. THE GOLD MEDAL WINNER
by ALE X ANDR A SLUSAR
While companies strive to collect data about the Earth, Mars and the moon, a rapidly growing Estonian company focuses on small details: our own roads. An AI-powered platform provides data to improve road infrastructure.
Breaking the barriers between the real and virtual worlds
F
ounded in Estonia in 2020, EyeVi is still a young company. Its founder Gaspar Anton has great plans, and it looks like he might be able to achieve them very soon. With 42 employees in Estonia, Poland, and soon in the US, EyeVi targets customers in seven countries: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, the UK, and the US. The company is also looking for options to expand into Central Europe including Germany. Customers are mainly from sectors such as road consultation engineering, as well as road construction and mappin.
virtual worlds by building a digital twin of the road infrastructure. I was once a Google Street View driver in the Baltics. When the project ended, they took away our toys. We loved the technology but hated the road conditions we saw. We are now developing software for road inspection and surveillance. We build the digital layers for predictive road maintenance and road asset management with our AI-powered road network intelligence platform. Our customers use our platform to supply data quickly and efficiently to their customers.
Where did the idea for EyeVi come from? The name is a combination of eye and virtual. We are breaking the barriers between the real and the
Estonia is the start-upfriendliest country in the world. How did this help you when building your business? EyeVi couldn’t have grown so fast
without help. We had our first investments from the company I worked at before. There are also start-up incubators like Tehnopol in Tallinn, where I got new ideas and advice. The key management and technical employees bring their experience from other Estonian start-ups. Estonia is so small that everybody knows each other, so help can be found everywhere. How does EyeVi differ from similar products? There are many companies doing road mapping at different scales. EyeVi is a platform that can use the data, analyze it, and provide features that road maintenance can utilize. Our models can predict road damage before it happens, thus facilitating repairs and budget allocation. Our
32 | B E S T I N B U S I N E S S
Photo: Publicity photo/ ATOM Mobility
THE SILV ER MEDAL WINNER
ATOM Mobility founder and CEO Arturs Burnins (left) and his co-founder Arturs Nikiforovs
by JOHANNA CR AMER
Sharing is caring In 2018, as the first micro-mobility company in the US began to enjoy some success, there was an early follower in Europe – ATOM Mobility, a start-up located in Riga’s Old Town.
E
ntrepreneur and CEO Arturs Burnins and his co-founder Arturs Nikiforovs, the company’s CTO, had the idea of developing platforms for sharing as well. The idea of establishing the company at that time was not without risks. On their way to becoming a successful start-up, the two took on several challenges because an earlier foundation of a different start-up was not successful. “We had reached a point where we wanted to quit everything and just start life all over again”, Arturs said during the interview. They shut down the earlier company with financial losses and little hope. Nevertheless, the two decided to give it one last try and submitted their idea to a local business competition. Despite poor results in the public votes, the professional jury voted the young start-up into the Top 3. From there, the company took
off. An investor was particularly interested in their project, and three months later they launched their first shared mobility devices. Today, they are a provider that develops and optimizes their customers’ software and assists them in the whole process. To do this, ATOM Mobility offers different tools, including the app that the customers of shared mobility devices use to find nearby vehicles and pay for them. There is also the IT service app, which simplifies the management of individual vehicles. All problems and tasks can be managed through this app. Users can check when the tires need to be changed, where the vehicles are, as well as turn the lights on and off, or lock the device. Along with the management tasks, the ATOM Academy offers an internal teaching platform for customers to exchange ideas and benefit from knowledge and experience.
Let’s dive deeper into the world of shared mobility. It is widely referred to as the future of urban mobility because of the wide-ranging advantages. Among other benefits, shared mobility leads to fewer vehicles in urban areas, which will minimize air pollution. In addition to this, there is the possibility to save material and space as not everyone needs a new car anymore. For short distances, people can turn to e-scooters or city bikes. The sharing economy encourages mobility beyond owning vehicles. Urban e-scooters, in particular, are experiencing a boom, and this dynamic market is shining with great potential for further development. By way of software and consulting, ATOM Mobility contributes to equipping 70 cities with modern mobility solutions. And the team keep expanding. While there were only two employees in 2018, the team of 15 now works with a diverse customer network in Europe. In the Baltic states and Germany, in Riga the hometown of ATOM Mobility, in Münster – the bicycle city of Germany – and many more. While the European market is being further exploited and professionalized, ATOM Mobility also wants to expand further in other parts of the world. In addition to cities in Saudi Arabia and Asia, the U.S. and Canadian markets are set to be further developed, according to Arturs.