New electric trains in Latvia will not start carrying passengers before November 2023, state-owned passenger train operator Pasazieru Vilciens (PV) announced, LSM reports. Initially, the trains were supposed to be running in January 2023. Representatives of Czechia’s Skoda Group explained that the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine had disrupted the production and delivery…
Latvia’s greenhouse gas emissions rose by 7.5% in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period of 2022, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. The increase was the second highest in the EU. Overall greenhouse gas emissions in the whole EU decreased by nearly 3% over a year.
Latvia’s central bank, the Bank of Latvia, supports the Finance Ministry’s plan to introduce a mandatory requirement that banks pay corporate income tax on their profits in advance, LSM reports. Martins Kazaks, governor of the Bank of Latvia, argued that the solution should be permanent, thus ensuring that banks contribute to the state budget every…
Latvia’s Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) has released a list of Latvian companies that continue to export to Russia and Belarus, LETA reports. Economy Minister Ilze Indriksone instructed CSB to publish the list, which includes nearly 1,000 companies. The most common goods exported from Latvia to Russia include food products, alcoholic beverages, chemicals, medical products, machinery,…
Seven parties in Latvia’s Riga City Council have formed a new coalition, LSM reports. The memorandum of cooperation was signed by New Unity, National Alliance, Latvian Association of Regions (LRA), Code for Riga, Honour to Serve Riga (GKR), For Latvia’s Development (LA), and Movement For. Under the agreement, New Unity’s Vilnis Kirsis will become the…
Latvia’s New Unity party has nominated Welfare Minister Evika Silina as the party’s candidate for prime minister, LSM reports. She would replace New Unity leader Krisjanis Karins, who announced his resignation on 14 August 2023. Silina said that she would begin informal negotiations with political parties on the formation of a coalition government quickly. She…
The number of unemployed people in Latvia totalled 60,600 in the second quarter of 2023, which was 2,200 fewer than in the same period of 2022, according to the Central Statistical Bureau, LSM reports. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, the number of unemployed rose by 800. Latvia’s unemployment rate stood at 6.4%, which…
Latvia’s population totalled 1,882,600 people at the end of the first half of 2023, which was 8,400 fewer than in the beginning of 2023, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s provisional data, LSM reports. The number of deaths amounted to 14,291 (down 9.1%) and live births to 7,051 (down 12.1%). Latvia’s natural population growth was…
Latvia’s construction output increased by 16.1% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s calendar-adjusted data at constant prices, LSM reports. Construction of buildings rose by 23.2%, specialised construction activities by 17.5%, and civil engineering works by 2.6% over a year. In the second…