The first ship carrying Latvia’s strategic oil reserves arrived at the Freeport of Riga on 2 December 2024, the Ministry of Economy announced, LETA reports. Economy Minister Viktors Valainis said that the state would purchase 20% of the required reserves annually. The state would thus be in possession of 100% of the oil reserves in…
The Latvian government has approved new regulations under which transport and related infrastructure, signs, and information must be in Latvian and, if needed, in another official EU language, LSM reports. The new rules will thus preclude such signs in Russian. Justice Minister Inese Libina-Egnere said that the new rules would create a more attractive environment…
Latvia needs to set a maximum price cap on the Rail Baltica railway project, Prime Minister Evika Silina stated, LETA reports. Speaking at a meeting of a parliamentary committee of inquiry on the project, Silina stressed that the biggest problem right now was funding. She said that the Ministry of Transport was “painting visions” and…
The defence committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved President Edgars Rinkevics’s nomination of Brigade General Kaspars Pudans as the next commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), LETA reports. Pudans emphasised the need to develop Latvia’s defence capabilities further. Currently, Pudans serves as commander of the Latvian National Guard (LRZS). He…
Baltic and Canadian foreign ministers met in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 2 December 2024, European Interest reported. The ministers discussed transatlantic relations as well as regional and global security and cooperation. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze stressed that containing Russia and providing strong support to Ukraine were essential for the long-term interests of transatlantic…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, has drawn up a plan to resume flights to Ukraine as soon as it is safe to do so, Ukrainska Pravda reports. Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, airBaltic CEO Martin Gauss said that the company planned to divert aircraft from other routes and implement overnight stops in Ukraine. He…
European news portal Politico ranked the performance of Lithuania’s EU commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius, highest of the three Baltic members of the outgoing European Commission, ERR reports. The outlet gave Sinkevicius, who served as the European Commissioner for Environment in 2019-2024, a score of A minus. Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, who is staying on as EC Vice…
The finance committee of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has decided to cancel an additional 5% increase in the excise tax on alcohol that was planned for July 2025, ERR reports. Committee chairwoman Annely Akkermann said that the tax hike would have led to increased cross-border trade and grey market sales, thus reducing state budget…
Latvian monetary financial institutions (MFIs), mainly banks, generated total profits of EUR 461.7mn in the first ten months of 2024, which was down 22.6% from EUR 596.2mn in the same period of 2023, according to data from the Bank of Latvia, LETA reports. The total assets of MFIs amounted to EUR 29.23bn at the end…