Ukraine’s ambassador to Latvia, Anatolii Kutsevol, has asked the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, to pass a law to ban twin town agreements between Latvian municipalities and local governments in Russia and Belarus, LSM reports. In a letter to the parliament’s committee on public administration and local government, Kutsevol argued that such forms of cooperation were…
Latvia’s Central Election Commission (CVK) has proposed introducing new paper ballots for the municipal elections in summer 2025, LSM reports. The State Regional Development Agency (VRAA), which is in charge of the country’s voting system, notes that the existing paper ballots can be confusing for voters. CVK said that the new ballots would be simpler…
The financial regulatory authorities of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries have conducted a financial crisis simulation exercise under the Nordic Baltic Stability Group framework, ERR reports. The exercise was aimed at testing preparedness for a potential crisis situation, including in communication, information sharing, and collaboration between the authorities. Around 450 participants representing Nordic, Baltic,…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) will contact 260 construction companies that are paying atypically low wages to their workers, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, VID director general Baiba Smite-Roke noted that the companies were paying wages that were significantly lower than the average. The aim was to ascertain whether the companies were…
The municipal government of the Latvian capital, Riga, has terminated procurement for the maintenance of the city’s bridges in 2024-2029, LSM reports. After announcing a new tender for the contract, the cheapest offer was 43% more expensive than in the initial tender announced in spring 2024, when both bidders failed to meet the requirements. The…
Latvia’s National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has awarded free terrestrial TV broadcasting rights to Re MEDIA’s ReTV and 4.vara’s TV4 in 2025-2026, BNS reports. Re MEDIA’s owner is Jurgis Abele, while 4.vara’s owners are Sweden’s Silver Spring Media (79.99%), Kristaps Zalitis’s LZI (12.52%), and Arturs Vaskis’s AV Management (7.49%). NEPLP will announce a repeated…
Producer prices in Latvian industry declined by 2.6% in August 2024, compared to the same period of 2023, according to data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. Prices declined by 12.7% in energy supply, 1.4% in mining and quarrying, and 0.6% in manufacturing, but increased by 5.3% in water supply and waste management….
Latvia had a total of 64,900 unemployed people in August 2024, which was 3,500 more than in the same period of 2023, according to the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LETA reports. Compared to July 2024, the number of unemployed rose by 100 people. Latvia’s actual unemployment rate stood at 6.8% in August 2024, which was…
The Latvian government will propose amendments that would allow soldiers and internal affairs officers to continue in service while receiving retirement pension, BNS reports. Also, the government will propose amendments allowing people aged over 40 years to join professional service in the military or internal affairs. At present, only citizens aged 18-40 years are eligible…