Latvija in brief - 2011-04-21

  • 2011-04-20

The government’s action plan to combat illegal trade and smuggling has been successful and the results have improved, says a Cabinet report to the Saeima Public Expenditure and Audit Committee, reports LETA. Last year, the police managed to solve several serious crimes, arrest an organized group of dangerous criminals and improve cooperation between Latvian and foreign security institutions, the report says. The efficiency of combating organized crime has also significantly improved. Thirty criminal processes have been launched against organized crime groups, compared to 19 processes in 2009. Organized crime suffered 15.1 million lats (21.5 million euros) in losses last year, compared to 3.6 million lats in losses in 2009. During the first two months of the year, the police revealed 998 transgressions of the law, fined 785 individuals and legal entities and launched 213 criminal processes. 36.8 million illegal cigarettes, 16,000 liters of liquor and 130 vehicles have been confiscated. According to the report, the authorities have carried out 27 out of 60 measures to combat shadow economy and ensure fair competition.

Last week, Latvia’s unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage points to 14.2 percent, according to the State Employment Agency’s preliminary data, reports LETA. The Employment Agency’s director, Baiba Pasevica, said that 160,739 people were registered as unemployed at the beginning of April, but in one week this figure dropped by almost 3,000. There are 2,948 vacancies in the Employment Agency’s database currently, which means that there is one opening per 55 unemployed. The lowest unemployment level is in the Riga Region - 10.7 percent, and the highest in Latgale province - 22.7 percent. The unemployment rate has decreased the most in Kurzeme province, to 15.2 percent. This is because of the start of seasonal jobs, which is why the unemployment level will continue to decrease across Latvia, said Pasevica.

The Estonian Business Chamber in Latvia urges the Latvian government to bring order to the tax auditing system in order to reduce the unfair competition with the shadow economy, reports ERR. Currently, business activities in the country are hampered by increased taxes, and retail sales have also dropped due to wage cuts. The competition in Latvia is much more significant than in Estonia. Estonian businesspeople point out that the Latvian government could collect more tax proceeds from combating the shadow economy than from increasing taxes. The Estonian government managed to combat the shadow economy, and the Latvian government should learn from it, said a spokesperson for the Chamber, Margit Laanjarv. Laanjarv pointed out that the companies’ relations with the State Revenue Service are much more difficult than the ones with the corresponding institution in Estonia. “I do not see a single positive signal from the Latvian government to the companies,” said Laanjarv.