26 March 2020
The Cabinet of Ministers will discuss payment of idle time benefits to all employees of companies if their turnover has dropped due to the outbreak of Covid-19, LETA learned from the Finance Ministry. ... Read more
26 March 2020
The government's decision on Tuesday on the disbursement of downtime benefits for about 73,000 employees working in sectors most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic will cost EUR 102 million from the national budget, according to information from the Economy Ministry. As reported, initially downtime pay during the period of the Covid-19 crisis will be provided to around 73,000 employees in transport and logistics, hospitality, tourism and creative industries, according to regulations worked out by the Economics Ministry and adopted by the government.... Read more
25 March 2020
Yesterday's government decision on downtime benefits for businesses are just the start, and options for expanding support measures will be evaluated, said Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) on Latvian Television this morning. Initially, support is being targeted at about 40 sectors, but the prime minister promised that the government will not stop just at these 40 sectors, and this is just the beginning, which will be followed by more specific support criteria and possible expansion of the list of sectors.... Read more
20 March 2020
Latvia's government support aimed at mitigating the economic impact from the Covid-19 pandemic has exceeded EUR 2 billion, Finance Minister Janis Reirs (New Unity) told journalists Thursday. According to the minister's estimates, the government support, which was initially planned at EUR 1 billion has now surpassed EUR 2 billion already. The proposal to support the businesses idled by the coronavirus outbreak by financing employees' wages will cost between EUR 60 million and EUR 200 million, if it is decided to expand the number of sectors eligible for the support. ... Read more
17 March 2020
In order to ensure support to businesses in Latvia, it is planned to provide tax holidays for a period of up to three years, said Latvia's Finance Minister Janis Reirs after the meeting of the work group, discussing support to businesses in dealing with economic consequences from the outbreak of Covid-19. ... Read more
17 March 2020
The government of Latvia is currently at work on a idling regulation that could be used to provide financial assistance to those businesses whose operations are seriously suffering from the Covid-19 crisis, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins told journalists following a coalition cooperation meeting on Monday. The regulation would serve as a government support instrument, helping affected businesses to survive the Covid-19 crisis.... Read more
16 March 2020
The cargo ship traffic at the Riga port has not been interrupted but strict precautionary measures have been introduced, said Riga Freeport Administration spokeswoman Liene Ozola. She said that the Riga port continues work to ensure all cargo handling services. In the past three days 30 ships have been handled, reloading different cargos, including containers, timber, grain products and coal.... Read more
13 March 2020
In an effort to prevent Covid-19 from spreading further in Latvia, a state of emergency comes into force from today, setting a number of tough restrictions. The state of emergency is in force from today till April 14 with the aim to contain the spread of Covid-19. The Health Ministry has been put in charge of coordinating other institutions' efforts during the emergency. During the state of emergency, government and municipal institutions have been instructed to consider providing their services remotely. All educational institutions are being closed, and starting March 13, teaching will be organized remotely, except for centralized state exams.... Read more
