Twenty Years of Membership in the EU: Economic Developments in the Baltic states

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

The economic systems of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have experienced major upheavals over the past 35 years. Gorbachev’s perestroika reforms followed by the regained independence of the three Baltic states at the beginning of the 1990s initiated a fundamental process of transformation from planned to market economy. Their accessions to the European Union in 2004, their adoptions of the euro in 2011, 2014 and 2015, and their membership in the Banking Union starting from 2014 likewise resulted in dramatic and transformational changes. Prominent figures from the Baltic states lauded EU accession as the realisation of “one of the greatest wishes and goals” (Jüri Ratas, former Prime Minister of Estonia), as a “success story” (Krišjānis Kariņš, former Prime Minister of Latvia) and as “one of the largest projects in history” (Linas Linkevičius, former Foreign Minister of Lithuania). The panel examines key developments in the three Baltic economic systems beginning with their EU accession.

Short Bio

Klemens Grube is a research fellow in the field of banking and finance. In 2018 doctorate at the University of Greifswald. He joined the Faculty of Law and Economics in 2011 and is a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Latvia, Riga and the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. He holds a diploma in business economics from the University of Greifswald. Be-fore doing his research, he gained experience with the university’s administration. His current research interests are transformation in banking as well as business history of the 20th century, with a focus on the financial system and territorial history.

Jonathan Pritzlaff is a Master student at the University of Greifswald in Northern Germany. In fall 2023, he finished his Master’s degree in Business Administration where he conducted research on trans-European transport networks in general and the Rail Baltica railway project in particular. Currently, he is finalising his second Master in North European Languages and Cultures. His academic interests are in railway networks in an European and economic context with a focus on the Baltic Sea region. Besides Greifswald, Jonathan Pritzlaff’s study career included stations in Singapore, Växjö (Sweden) and Heilbronn (Southern Germany). He has gained professional experience in Finland and Germany while having worked in the fields of human resources management and retail.

Dr. Steffen Hundt is interim owner of the chair for Banking & Finance at the HTWK University of Applied Sciences, Leipzig in Germany. He is also Chief Financial Officer of NEAG Norddeutsche Energie AG, an independent power producer which operates onshore wind power plants. He studied Business Administration at the University of Freiberg, Germany and at the Pittsburg State University, USA. He has professional experience in banking and finance as he worked for consultancy firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers or corporates like Nordex SE in Sweden, Spain and France. He was a visiting lecturer at universities like Frankfurt School of Finance, Germany or New Design University St. Pölten, Austria.

Johanna Jahnel is a Ph.D. candidate in a cooperation between the Chair of Investment and Finance at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the Chair of Banking and Finance at the University of Applied Sciences Leipzig (HTWK). She holds a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from TU Bergakademie Freiberg and has professional experience in financial management through her current work in project financing at an independent power producer in Rostock (Germany). Her research focuses on financial management and corporate decarbonisation.

Inna Romānova is a Professor of Finance and the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Business, Management, and Economics at the University of Latvia, the Director of the Scientific Institute of Economics and Management, and the Director of the professional Master's degree programme in Financial Economics. She is an expert in Economics and Management Sciences of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Her academic interests are in Corporate Finance and Analysis. She has more than fifteen years of pedagogic experience both in Latvia and abroad, and she is a visiting professor in several universities in Europe. She also has professional experience in banking and finance, both in Latvia and Germany. Her research focus is on Financial Technologies and Financial Management. She is on the editorial board of several scientific journals as well as has co-edited several volumes of the book series. She has participated in a number of research projects. She is the chair of the international scientific conference “New Challenges in Economic and Business Development” as well as the member of the Programme Committees of several conferences.

Jan Körnert is a full professor in the Faculty of Law and Economics at the University of Greifswald in Germany. He is an expert in international financial markets, banking and cooperatives. He studied Business Administration and Economics at the University of Göttingen (Germany) and at the University of Kent at Canterbury (England). He also has professional experience in banking as he worked for several banks in Frankfurt, Vienna, New York and Hong Kong. He was a visiting professor at universities in Istanbul, Joensuu, Moscow, Riga and Vilnius.

Marina Kudinska is a Professor of Finance at the Faculty of Business, Management, and Economics of the University of Latvia. Her academic interests are in Banking, Risk Analysis and Digital Finance. She has participated in a number of research projects. She is the member of the programme and scientific committees of several international scientific conferences, as well as member of the editorial board of two scientific journals of accounting, finance and auditing studies. Marina Kudinska has thirty-five years of pedagogic experience in the higher education institutions. She is the author of seven study books on Banking and Finance, as well as more than 50 scientific publications. She has many years of experience in advising on banking issues.

Sub Unit

• Politics and Economics

Chair

• Jan Körnert, University of Greifswald

Individual Presentations

• First movers or first sellers? Observations on the commercialization of EU membership with a focus on the Baltic States - Klemens Grube, University of Greifswald

• Challenges and solution approaches regarding the Rail Baltica project - Jonathan Pritzlaff, University of Greifswald

• Between austerity and devaluation – The Baltic States' unusual path to European Monetary Union - Steffen Hundt, HTWK University of Applied Science, Leipzig; Johanna Jahnel, TU Bergakademie Freiberg

• Risks of greylisting: the experience of Latvia - Inna Romānova, University of Latvia; Jan Körnert, University of Greifswald

• The potential for sovereign wealth funds to exert influence through critical banks in smallest EU member states: An analysis of Malta, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - Thomas Junghanns, Berenberg Bank in Frankfurt