The Riga City Council has, in principal, decided to auction off the Hotel de Rome in downtown Riga. Currently the municipality does not receive any rent for the five-star hotel. In the early 1990s a lease agreement was signed with the German hotel operator, Riga Hotel GmbH, but this agreement will expire next year. Therefore, the city council must think about further action. The council's property director, Dagnija Kalnina, said the current market value of the building could be around 20 million lats (28.4 million euros). If the municipality leases the building, it would receive 350,00 's 500,000 lats in income annually. Mayor Aivars Aksenoks pointed out that running a hotel business was not a statutory responsibility, and that the property should be sold.
Due to a shortage of construction workers in Estonia, SRV Ehitus (SRV Construction) was forced to bring a cement truck with a four-man team from Finland. The group will pour the cement for a house the company is building. Eesti Ehitus manager Jaano Vink said, "When deadlines are pressing and you just can't find anyone to do the work, it's better to hire expensive labor from elsewhere than pay the fine."
The Estonian Environment Inspectorate fined the coal terminal operator in Muuga 33,000 kroons (2,100 euros) for polluting the environment. A spokesperson for the inspectorate said authorities couldn't force the company to stop operations, but they did intend to continue checking the coal terminal. In the fall, the inspectorate started receiving complaints from residents of the nearby villages of Saviranna and Kallavere, saying that coal dust carried into the villages by wind was covering buildings and gardens. Checks by the inspectorate revealed that the terminal was handling coal without having the necessary permits. The Coal Terminal Operator started operation at Muuga in July this year.
