RIGA - Latvian manufacturers have been the most active in applying for European Union structural funds since 2004 when opportunities for procuring funds became available.
Data of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency shows that so far industrial companies have submitted a total of 93 projects to the agency worth some 38.7 million lats (55.1 million euros). Sixteen projects have been submitted for manufacturing of metal and metal products.
The largest projects, worth 6.1 million lats in total, have been submitted for the manufacture of building materials, and projects with a total value of 3.5 million lats have been submitted for wood processing.
All in all, LIAA has received applications for 264 projects worth 47.5 million lats, or 59 percent of the total EU funds for 2006. The agency has already assessed 174 projects and has signed agreements on 154 projects.
As of now, 23 projects have received 2 million lats worth of EU assistance.
From 2004 to 2006 as many as 625.5 million euros will be available to Latvia from the EU Structural Funds, while Latvia's co-funding will be 230.5 million euros. Thus, the total amount of funding will exceed 856 million euros.
The LIAA administers four programs to which businessmen can apply for up to 114.3 million euros of EU funds.
