Liquor store workers near Estonian-Latvian border concerned about rising excise duties

  • 2019-11-22
  • LETA/BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - Some 40 workers from liquor stores operating near the Estonian-Latvian border protested the planned hike in excise duty rates on alcohol in Riga with some participants also coming from the border town of Valka, the regional Louna-Eesti Postimees reports.

Ance Andrejeva-Empele, online news editor with the North Latvian newspaper Ziemellatvija, said that the rallies are organized by store owners. The protesters feared that the excise duty hike would reduce cross border trade, thus also eliminating some 150 jobs in the area.

The excise duty rate on alcohol is to rise 30 percent in Latvia from March 2020. While Latvia countered Estonia's decision to lower the excise duties by also reducing its duty rates on strong alcohol by 15 percent, the rate will rise again from March 1 as planned earlier.