Several well-known politicians in Latvia were employed as fake consultants by Riga’s municipal public transport company, Rigas Satiksme, according to LTV’s De Facto programme, LETA reports. A court in Riga has accepted Rigas Satiksme’s plea deal, which identifies 16 fictional consultants, including several members of the company’s board and municipal councillors. Some of them represent…
The founder of a Belarusian startup firm is on trial in Latvia for violating EU sanctions, LSM reports. Igor Medved, founder of Nordwoc, is accused of supplying high-tech equipment to the Belarusian military-industrial complex. The prosecutor has asked for Medved to be sentenced to two years in prison, fines, and confiscation of property. The entrepreneur…
Estonian transmission system operator Elering’s frequency reserve tender has attracted interest from both local and international participants, ERR reports. The tender is aimed at providing price certainty in the frequency reserve market as Estonia will withdraw from the Russian electricity system in February 2025. The total capacity to be awarded under the tender will amount…
The Latvian government will invest an additional EUR 47mn in the state-owned railway company, Latvijas Dzelzcels (LDz), LSM reports. The capital will allow the company to pay all its tax debts and some outstanding bills for services. The state has invested EUR 95.6mn in LDz since 2020 to prop up the company’s finances. LDz has…
Latvia approved 30 applications for investor visas and 53 dependent visas under its so-called golden visa programme in the first half of 2024, Investment Migration Insider reports. The biggest number of approved applications were submitted by Chinese (11) and Turkish (7) nationals. The EUR 50,000 business investment option accounted for 22 and real estate investments…
Trucks crossing Lithuania’s borders with Belarus and Russia will have to register in advance as of 1 December 2024, BNS reports. Drivers of heavy duty vehicles must now pre-register on the online booking system (EVIS) to cross the border through the remaining three checkpoints on the borders with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region. The new…
A public petition in Latvia is collecting signatures to restrict or ban US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (former Twitter), in Latvia, BNS reports. The author of the legislative initiative, Gvido Grava, notes that an increasing volume of disinformation is being spread on X. He points out that X fails to comply with…
Latvian municipalities have begun switching on central heating for households amid the onset of colder weather, LETA reports. Riga’s municipal housing company, Rigas Namu Parvaldnieks (RNP), began providing heating to tenants on 4 October 2024. RNP will turn off heating automatically on warmer days. The Jekabpils municipality will switch on heating in kindergartens first and…
The largest ever Latvian trade mission to the US concluded its visit on 26 September 2024, LSM reported. Economy Minister Viktors Valainis said that three major cooperation agreements were signed during the visit. Also, talks started on investments in sustainable energy, biomedicine, and infrastructure development, he added. Earlier, Valainis expected the trade mission to bring…