Polish-owned fuel trading company Orlen Latvija remained the largest single taxpayer in Latvia in 2023, according to the State Revenue Service (VID), LSM reports. VID awarded 20 companies in 5 regions in the large, medium, small, and micro-enterprise categories for their labour tax contributions in 2023. The biggest taxpayers in the segment of large enterprises…
A strategic investor has shown interest in Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, Transport Minister Kaspars Briskens revealed, LETA reports. He suggested that the investor could acquire a minority stake in airBaltic before the company’s possible IPO. Briskens refused to disclose the name of the potential investor. No talks are currently under way with Estonia or…
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) has conducted searches at two locations related to former MEP Tatjana Zdanoka (Tatyana Zhdanok) of the Latvian Russian Union (LKS), LETA reports. VDD confiscated data carriers, notes, and documents for further analysis. VDD confirmed that the searches were part of a criminal investigation into Zdanoka’s possible cooperation with Russian intelligence…
The number of unemployed people in Latvia totalled 62,000 in June 2024, which was 500 more than in the same period of 2023, but 900 less than in May 2024, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) estimate, LSM reports. Altogether 32,600 men and 29,400 women were unemployed. Latvia’s actual unemployment rate stood at 6.5%…
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina urged European countries to “resist Russian evil,” saying that this would help increase security and prosperity in the continent, LSM reports. Speaking at the European Political Community (EPC) summit in the UK, Silina called on Europe to provide more military, financial, and political support to Ukraine. She said that European…
The share of children at risk of poverty in the Baltic States was lower than the EU average in 2023, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. The statistics showed that as many as 21.7% of children under the age of 18 years in Lithuania were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2023, compared…
Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) will inform altogether 4,650 Russian citizens on steps they need to take to be able to stay in Latvia after changes to the country’s law on immigration, LETA reports. Russian nationals with permanent residence permits must apply for the status of a permanent EU resident and pass…
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze has called for severing economic ties with Russia and Belarus “to the maximum,” LSM reports. She insisted that Latvia must continue to decontaminate itself from Russian influence, stressing that economic security was as important for national security as military security. Braze reiterated the need for robust EU sanctions against Russia…
US congressmen Donald Bacon of Nebraska and Salud Carbajal of California have visited the Baltic States, LSM reports. In Latvia, the two members of the US House of Representatives met with Prime Minister Evika Silina, Foreign Minister Baiba Braze, and Defence Minister Andris Spruds to discuss political, economic, and defence cooperation, the NATO summit in…