Companies in the Baltic States issued an all-time record of EUR 6.68bn in bonds in 2025, which was an increase of more than double from 2024, The Baltic Times reported. The volume of local bonds issued totalled EUR 1.37bn, which was up 42% over a year. The number of Baltic companies issuing bonds reached a…
Latvia’s foreign trade turnover totalled EUR 42.73bn in 2025, which was up EUR 2,198.7mn (5.4%) from 2024 at current prices, according to provisional data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. The total value of exported goods amounted to EUR 19.54bn, which was up EUR 698.1mn (3.7%) from 2024. The value of goods imported…
Corruption remained considerably lower in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania in 2025, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, ERR reports. Estonia ranked 12th on the index, which was up from 13th place in 2024, BNS reported. Meanwhile, Lithuania came in on 28th (32nd) and Latvia on 37th (38th) place, LSM reported. Estonia scored 76…
Latvia’s construction output rose by 9% over a year in 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) calendar-adjusted data at constant prices, LSM reports. Construction of buildings increased by 1.2%, civil engineering structures by 25.7%, and specialised construction activities by 2.9%. In the fourth quarter of 2025, construction output increased by 9.9% from a…
Latvia’s pro-Russian opposition party, For Stability, may be dissolved, LETA reports. Earlier, the Latvian Prosecution Office (LRP) ordered For Stability to remove social media content that violated regulations on political parties. The law prohibits political parties from acting against the independence or territorial integrity of Latvia or other democratic states, advocating for the violent overthrow…
The water level in the Baltic Sea has fallen to one of the lowest levels in recorded history, ELTA reports. On the Latvian coast, the sea level has dropped to around 65 cm below zero level, according to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVGMC). In Liepaja and Ventspils, the sea level is close…
All but two Latvian mayors have been granted access to state secrets as required by law, LETA reports. The State Security Service (VDD) has refused security clearances to Aleksandrs Bartasevics, chairman of the Rezekne city council, and Gatis Truksnis, former mayor of Jurmala. VDD is still reviewing the security clearances of five deputy chairs of…
Authorities in Latvia and Lithuania have opened investigations into information in documents related to the convicted US sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. The documents contain hundreds of references to Latvia and Lithuania, including indications that Epstein’s associates had recruited young women and children for sexual exploitation through local modelling agencies, LETA and LRT reported. Latvia’s State…
State-owned and municipal companies in Latvia involved in building or maintaining critical infrastructure have begun dismissing Russian and Belarusian citizens, LETA reports. Under amendments to the law on national security, Russian and Belarusian citizens may not be employed in jobs with access to critical infrastructure. Latvian capital Riga’s municipal water utility, Rigas Udens, has terminated…