Latvia’s Ministry of Education and Science has proposed reducing the number of advanced-level centralised exams in secondary school by one, LETA reports. Under the ministry’s proposal, graduates would be required to take five instead of six mandatory exams. At the moment, high school graduates in Latvia need to take five compulsory exams: Latvian, a foreign…
The Latvian government will need to borrow EUR 3.8bn on international financial markets in 2026 and EUR 4.3bn in 2027, according to Janis Rozenbergs, deputy manager of the State Treasury, LETA reports. He told the budget and finance committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, that the government needed around EUR 2bn per year to…
Estonia’s state-owned energy group, Eesti Energia, will merge all of its electricity business into its fully-owned subsidiary, Enefit, as of 2026, ERR reports. The group will merge its Enefit entities in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland as well. The new Enefit will serve more than 560,000 retail customers in four countries. Eesti Energia says that the…
The supervisory board of Latvia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi), has appointed Raitis Nespors as the company’s new board chairman for a five-year term, LSM reports. Nespors served as member of Vivi’s management board in 2021-2024. Also, the supervisory board appointed Zane Abolina as a new member to Vivi’s board. Marcis Kaulins continues…
Most banks in Latvia will be eligible for rebates on so-called solidarity tax payments in 2025, according to the Bank of Latvia, LETA reports. The central bank noted that the growth of lending has been appreciably faster in 2025. Therefore, most banks will qualify for discounts on their solidarity contributions, amounting to 25-100%. The new…
Business sentiment in Latvia improved in all economic sectors in September 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) latest survey, LSM reports. The business confidence indicator was 4.8% in retail trade, which was up 1.5 percentage points from August 2025. Business confidence stood at 1.7% in services (up 1.3 points), negative 3.5% in manufacturing…
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid a working visit to Latvia on 8 July 2025, LSM reported. He held talks with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and Prime Minister Evika Silina. Steinmeier highlighted Germany’s special connection and historical and cultural ties with Latvia. Speaking about bilateral cooperation on security policy, he noted that Latvia was beginning to…
Latvia’s Riga International Airport (RIX) served more than 3.3 million passengers in the first half of 2025, which was 5% more than in the same period of 2024, LSM reported. The number of flights increased by 3% to 30,378. The airport’s cargo turnover rose by 9% to 9,194 tonnes.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has expressed “grave alarm” at the decision of the three Baltic States, Finland, Poland, and Ukraine, to withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, BNS reported. Türk stressed that the international convention, which has over 160 state parties, was a crucial tool in “responding to…
