Several well-known politicians in Latvia were employed as fake consultants by Riga’s municipal public transport company, Rigas Satiksme, according to LTV’s De Facto programme, LETA reports. A court in Riga has accepted Rigas Satiksme’s plea deal, which identifies 16 fictional consultants, including several members of the company’s board and municipal councillors. Some of them represent…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) will contact 260 construction companies that are paying atypically low wages to their workers, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, VID director general Baiba Smite-Roke noted that the companies were paying wages that were significantly lower than the average. The aim was to ascertain whether the companies were…
Latvia’s three-party coalition government remains stable, Prime Minister Evika Silina assured, LSM reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Silina said that the main issues facing the government included next year’s budget, tax reforms, funding for the Rail Baltica railway project, and the planned IPO of national air carrier airBaltic. However, the Prime Minister implied…
German airline Lufthansa may invest in Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, according to Bloomberg, LETA reports. Sources said that negotiations on the deal were still at an early stage. Earlier, German news agency dpa cited Lufthansa’s CEO, Jens Ritter, who said that the company was interested in another airline operating its shorter routes, LSM reported….
The Latvian state is negotiating with a well-known strategic investor on the possible acquisition of a 10% stake in the country’s national air carrier, airBaltic, according to LTV’s information, LSM reports. Klavs Vasks, chairman of airBaltic’s supervisory board, confirmed that the unnamed strategic investor could acquire a minority stake in the company. In 2023, Prudentia…
Latvia’s Public Electronic Mass Media Council (SEPLP) has told the state-owned TV channel, LTV7, to provide all content in Latvian only as of 1 January 2025, BNS reports. Currently, LTV7 carries programmes in Russian as well. Earlier, the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, approved a new national security concept that obliges Latvia’s public broadcasters to have…
Latvians are very enthusiastic to take part in national defence, the commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), Lieutenent General Leonids Kalnins, stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Kalnins said that the public had shown “enormous interest” in the recently announced open application for basic military training for reservists. Also, interest…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved in final reading amendments to merge the country’s public broadcasters, Latvijas Televizija (LTV) and Latvijas Radio, in 2025, LETA reported. Under the plan, the two companies will merge into a new public broadcasting corporation, Latvijas Sabiedriskais Medijs (LSM). Latvijas Radio’s trade union objected to the plan, arguing that…
Belarusian security services continue their malign activities on the border with Latvia, Guntis Pujats, head of the Latvian State Border Guard (VRS), announced, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Pujats said that Belarusian security services were actively involved in damaging Latvia’s border infrastructure to enable the illegal entry of migrants into the country….