Latvija in brief - 2006-10-11

  • 2006-10-11
Parliament approved the Defense Ministry's initiative to raise soldier pay to an average of 270 lats (384 euro) per month, or a raise of between 1.5 and 1.8 percent per month. According to ministry press secretary Arturs Graudins, the raise was needed due to "the unstable nature of work in Afghanistan" and the area's quickly deteriorating security situation, especially in the north where Latvia's soldiers are located. Individual soldier's wages will be determined based on the number of years served and military rank. For example, a senior sergeant who has served 16-19 years and is on an unexploded ordnance neutralization mission will receive a net salary of 1,586 lats instead of the current 1,316 lats. About 176,000 lats from the Defense Ministry's budget will be needed for the pay hike.

The man run over and killed by Einars Repse was robbed shortly before the accident, his mother claims. The mother of the 26-year-old man claimed that her son had been robbed in Riga and dumped on the side of the highway. She has asked police to begin an investigation into the matter, reported the Russian-language newspaper Telegraf. The woman's lawyers refused to provide details about the potential robbery while the investigation is underway. On Sept. 20, New Era member Repse hit and killed a man while driving along the Riga-Daugavpils highway. Repse showed no traces of alcohol.

The Latvian Embassy in Ireland is still looking for larger quarters to rent. Although the embassy is currently in a good location, the premises are quite small, about 70 square meters, Ambassador Indulis Abele told the Baltic News Service, adding that the embassy would like to rent the whole building, but the asking price is too high. Two new buildings were found last year, but both opportunities fell through in the end. The ambassador said the main problem was that Ireland's real estate supply was low and prices were high. He added that other embassies were also looking for new property. The Foreign Ministry has already promised to finance more staff at the embassy, which was opened in 2003, since its workload has increased due to EU enlargement and the following influx of Latvian workers to Ireland.

During the first nine months of this year, the registration of new vehicles in Latvia soared by 5,905 cars or 50 percent from the same period last year. The Authorized Car Dealers Association reported a total of 17,660 newly registered cars between January and September. Toyotas made in 2005 and 2006 led the list with 2,100 models registered. Volkswagen was the runner-up with 1,584 new cars, and Hyundai was third with 1,555 new cars registered during the first nine months of this year. Further down the list were Skoda with 1,175 cars and Mitsubishi with 1,061 cars. As many as 16,680 new passenger cars were registered in 2005, up 48 percent year-on-year. Toyota was also last year's leader with 2,067 new cars registered.