The defence ministers of the three Baltic States met with a high official of Poland’s Defence Ministry in Latvia’s Daugavpils to discuss the strengthening of regional defence infrastructure, LSM reports. Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds stressed the importance of implementing NATO decisions to strengthen the defence of the alliance’s eastern flank, including regional air-defence capabilities….
The US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has removed Latvia’s ABLV Bank from its list of financial institutions posing a risk of money laundering, LSM reports. The European Central Bank revoked ABLV’s banking licence in 2018 after FinCEN added the bank to the list. ABLV’s liquidation is now nearly complete, and the bank…
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) expects the Latvian and Lithuanian economies to grow and the Estonian economy to contract in 2024, LSM reports. The bank lowered its GDP growth forecast for Estonia and Latvia, but raised its forecast for Lithuania. EBRD now expects Estonia’s GDP to decline by 0.8% in 2024, down…
Latvia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi), has now received all 32 new electric trains from the Czech manufacturer, Skoda Vagonka, LETA reports. Initially, all trains were due to be delivered by the end of 2023. Raitis Nespors, acting board chairman of Vivi, conceded that the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine contributed…
A notorious leader of organised crime in Latvia has been arrested in an international operation, LSM reports. Latvia’s State Police, in cooperation with Europol and the Spanish National Police, detained 16 people, including 10 in Latvia and 6 in Spain. The group is suspected of selling narcotics and of large-scale money laundering. Police confiscated marijuana,…
The Latvian government is discussing possible changes to second-tier pension funds, LETA reports. The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, will consider a public initiative opposing the government’s plan to reduce automatic second-tier pension contributions, LSM reports. The petition collected the necessary signatures in record short time. The government has proposed transferring 1% of second-pillar pension funds…
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 parliament, the Saeima, has passed amendments mandating the country’s largest banks to provide in-person customer service and to maintain a network of ATMs outside big cities as of 2026, LSM reported. The new rules will apply to Swedbank, SEB, Citadele, and Luminor. Currently, the big banks have no permanent customer service points in…