RIGA - The ruling coalition has agreed to hold onto the state's 49 percent stake in Rigas Siltums (Riga Heating), a municipal heating utility, for an indefinite period of time.
Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis' economics advisor Aigars Stokenbergs said the government was now expecting proposals from the Riga local authority about how to structure the company's further development.
"Let the Riga City Council talk to other shareholders of the company and work out a strategy for the company's development," he said.
Ministers are scheduled to decide at a government meeting the stake's fate. The Economics Ministry has been ordered to consider three possible scenarios 's leaving the shares in government property or transferring them to the Riga City Council or to Latvenergo, the state-owned energy producer.
The decision came after the minister opted to reject proposals for the privatization of Riga Heating, which had been submitted by Dalkia City Heat, a subsidiary of France's heating utility Dalkia, and Finland's energy company Fortum.
The Riga City Council owns 49 percent in Riga Heating, and 2 percent belongs to Dalkia City Heat.
The company supplies 76 percent of the total heating power necessary for the Riga city.
