The Latvian government plans to raise taxes on fuel, harmful beverages, tobacco, and gambling, LETA reports. Under the plan, the excise tax on fuel will amount to EUR 10 per tonne of CO2 in 2025 and to EUR 20 per tonne in 2026. The excise duty on sugary non-alcoholic beverages will rise from the current…
Latvia’s State Treasury has issued seven-year eurobonds worth EUR 600mn on international financial markets, LETA reports. The bonds will mature on 25 January 2032. The bond yield is 3.138%, and the coupon is 3%. Demand for the bonds among investors amounted to almost EUR 5bn. The number of investors was 140. In May 2024, Latvia…
The presidents of the three Baltic States — Estonia’s Alar Karis, Latvia’s Edgars Rinkevics, and Lithuania’s Gitanas Nauseda — have called for reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), BNS reported. They stressed the need to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its military aggression. Karis pointed to the UNSC’s current inability to resolve conflicts,…
The Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) will equip all its units with first-person view (FPV) drones, Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas announced, BNS reports. LGP will create a “drone ecosystem” of various types of air and naval combat drones. Kasciunas said that Lithuania planned to open several new production lines for maritime drones by 2025. The government…
A four-year-old boy in Latvia died of diphtheria at the Children’s Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) in Riga on 16 September 2024, LSM reports. The boy was unvaccinated for the preventable disease. Four children, including two of the dead boy’s sisters, were treated for diphtheria at the hospital. The parents, who took the sisters out of…
Latvia’s new early warning system will not be implemented at the end of 2024 as planned because of a delay in the procurement process, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis announced, LSM reports. He said that the delay was due to the many legal appeals during the procurement procedure. The ministry announced a procurement tender for the…
The Latvian government plans to raise the personal income tax (PIT) for those with high income in 2025, LETA reports. Under the plan, the government will introduce an additional 3% PIT rate for those with income of over EUR 200,000 per year. The additional tax will apply to all taxable income, including capital gains. At…
Latvia’s State Border Guard (VRS) has procured high-power speaker devices meant for psychological deterrence, LETA reports. VRS purchased the sound devices from Lithuania’s NT Service for around EUR 150,000. VRS has deployed the devices to Latvia’s eastern border to deter the illegal entry of large groups of people into the country. The non-lethal devices can…
The crash of a Russian attack drone in eastern Latvia on 7 September 2024 has raised concerns about the ability of Baltic air defence systems to protect civilians from unexpected aerial threats, The Baltic Sentinel reports. Critics questioned why the drone, which was equipped with explosives, was not shot down but was instead allowed to…