First ship carrying Latvia's strategic oil reserves arrives at Riga Port

RIGA - The first ship carrying Latvia's strategic oil reserves arrived at the port of Riga on Monday, the Economics Ministry informed LETA.

The entire amount of oil reserves needed by Latvia in 2024 will be delivered through Riga Port by the end of this y ear.

According to the Economics Ministry, shipments of oil products to Latvia have started in accordance with the new model of oil product reserves management.

Economics Minister Viktors Valainis (Greens/Farmers) says that transition to the new procedure will save the state up to EUR 877 million over ten years, and 20 percent of Latvia's oil product reserves will be purchased annually, so that in 2029 the state will own 100 percent of the oil product reserves.

In order to improve Latvia's economic security and resilience to crisis situations, as well as to reduce the cost of maintaining the system in the future, the government in early 2024 supported changes to the oil product reserves management system, which provide for determination of the amount of oil products to be permanently maintained in the reserves.