Latvija in brief - 2011-12-15

Riga Central District Court has accepted the People’s Party insolvency petition submitted at the end of November, and commenced insolvency proceedings against the party, reports LETA. The court will review the matter in a sitting on Dec. 16, said court spokesman Janis Jaksons. The People’s Party insolvency petition was initially put on hold by the court as the party had not submitted all the necessary evidence and had not paid the 50 lats duty for filing the petition. The liquidator of the People’s Party, the party’s former secretary general Ramona Pitena, said that the party’s account currently holds about 3,000 lats. The Corruption Prevention Bureau has ordered the People’s Party to transfer to the state budget 1.03 million lats, which the party received and spent illegally on the party’s ‘positivism campaign’ in 2008. On Sept. 22, the Supreme Court’s Senate upheld the Administrative District Court’s Nov. 25, 2010 verdict and ordered the People’s Party pay 1.03 million lats to the state budget.

The registered unemployment rate in Latvia at the end of November was 11.5 percent - the same as in October, says the State Employment Agency, reports LETA. At the moment, 130,240 people are registered as unemployed with the Employment Agency’s branches, compared to 130,541 at the beginning of November. The agency’s database contains information on 3,025 vacancies. The highest unemployment rate is still in Latgale Province - 19.7 percent, whilst the lowest is in Riga Region, at 8.5 percent. The unemployment rate in Vidzeme Province is 12.9 percent, in Zemgale Province 12.5 percent, and in Kurzeme Province 12 percent. Among the cities, Rezekne has the highest unemployment rate of 18 percent, while the lowest unemployment rate is in Riga at 8 percent, followed by Jelgava at 8.8 percent, Ventspils with 9.1 percent; Valmiera at 9.4 percent; Daugavpils at 9.9 percent; Jurmala at 10.4 percent; Liepaja at 12.6 percent, and Jekabpils at 13.8 percent.

On Dec. 12 the Procurement Monitoring Bureau banned the Freeport of Riga Authority from signing an 88.7 million lats contract with company BMGS S on infrastructure development on Krievu Island in the Daugava River, intended to move port activity further away from Riga center. The total project cost is estimated at about 105 million lats, of which approximately 52 million lats could be covered by European Union co-funding. The bidders included the companies BMGS S, Josef Mobius Bau -Aktiengesellschaft and Aarsleff - Merko. The decision was made following a complaint filed by Josef Mobius Bau - Aktiengesellschaft. The winning bidder would have to dredge deeper the port’s access canal, build wharves, new access roads on Krievu Island, a new railroad track, the island’s sewerage system, telecommunication systems, gas supply network, external power lines and several buildings. The Procurement Monitoring Bureau’s decision may be appealed to the Administrative District Court within one month.