Regional Development Ministry has added Ulbroka region to new map of Latvia's municipalities

  • 2019-08-13
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - The new map of Latvia’s municipalities drafted by the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry will also include the region of Ulbroka, which in turn will include the municipalities of Stopini, Garkalne and Ropazi, LETA was told at the ministry.

After consultations with 114 local authorities, the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry has worked out a conceptual report on the administrative territorial distribution of municipalities as part of the planned municipal reform.

Upon analyzing population and mobility dynamics, as well as hearing alternative proposals, the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry has decided to create one more region in Greater Riga.

In the new model, the ministry proposes to create one more region in Greater Riga – Ulbroka, uniting Ropazi, Stopini and Garkalne municipalities, as well as Vangazi town around Ulbroka as the administrative center.

These changes will also affect Salaspils region, which now remains within its current borders, and Adazi region, which loses Garkalne. As a result, the number of local governments in Latvia will be reduced from 119 to 36, not 35 as the ministry proposed originally.

The draft document has been sent to the Ministries of Finance and Justice, the Cross-Sectoral Coordination Center and the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments for approval.

In September, the ministry will put the conceptual report before the Cabinet of Ministers.