On opportunities and events
Joint Stock Company “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) invites potential service providers to submit their bids by 9 September for an open tender for the provision of forest restoration, maintenance, and protection services in 2023 and 2024. Bids can be submitted by operators from all Latvian regions with various skills and experience in forestry work.
Concluding the summary is information about the event “Diži stādi” (Great Seedlings) in Zaļenieki on 13 and 14 August
On the very topical and the topical
https://www.db.lv/zinas/latvija-iedzivotaju-skaits-turpina-samazinaties-508495
The prosperity of a large part of the world's countries, including Latvia, is based on the companies operating within them, which both employ people and pay taxes. Politicians do not create tax revenue; they only redistribute it – for health, education, security, culture, roads, and much more. Fewer companies mean less money to redistribute.
Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (JV) has issued a resolution this week instructing all ministers and the State Chancellery (VK) to prepare for the implementation of energy-saving measures in the upcoming heating season, reports the Prime Minister’s press secretary, Sandris Sabajevs. The head of government's instruction mandates that all ministers and the Director of the State Chancellery, Jānis Citskovskis, must submit information to the Ministry of Economics by 19 August regarding planned energy-saving measures for ministries, their institutions, and state-owned companies, as well as the projected volume of savings.
The Ministry of Economics has prepared a regulatory framework that will establish detailed conditions for households to receive support for compensating the rise in energy prices. It is planned that this regulatory framework will be reviewed by the Cabinet of Ministers on 9 August and by the Saeima on 11 August. As is known, on 21 June this year, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to develop support instruments to compensate households for energy expenditures on electricity, natural gas, thermal energy, and wood pellets. Given the sharp rise in prices for firewood and wood briquettes as well, the Ministry of Economics has included support in the regulatory framework for households that use wood briquettes and firewood for heating. We propose setting the support period from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023.
“The problem is not with the availability of woodchip resources in Latvia. Several organisations have confirmed to me that the volume of woodchips is sufficient to provide the amount necessary for Latvia in this heating season. Upon meeting and speaking with the interested parties, it is clear that the main problem for both sides right now is the incompatible terms of the proposed contracts. Specifically, the rapid changes in the energy market and the previous season's experience with sharp price hikes and contract terminations have created a situation where the buyer's desire for lower prices and guarantees from the supplier does not align with the woodchip suppliers' primary desire to see monthly price indexation in the contract,” explains the Minister of Economics regarding the situation.
Support can be obtained for the installation of fencing and additional technical equipment to reduce bird and small animal fatalities (various devices as optional extras, such as animal detectors and deterrent devices) to ensure the operation of livestock farms. The base support intensity is 40%, and it can be supplemented by 10% if the project is implemented in livestock farming that raises herbivores. When implementing a project aimed at improving animal welfare and reducing the risk of animal damage, the support recipient does not need to achieve an increase in economic performance indicators. The next round of project application submissions is planned for this autumn.
The front line in the battle between light and darkness is currently very stretched. Even without talking about global processes and the armed struggle against tyranny, the line between zones of fortune and misfortune in the Latvian economy is very sharp. The difficulties for many families due to rising energy prices will be truly dramatic. Retail, the largest consumption sector, slid into the red in June. However, it is not all, so to speak, one-sided; the situation is highly contrasting. Export development in the first half of the year was very healthy. This is largely reflected in the performance of the manufacturing industry. Looking more broadly, according to balance of payments data, the export of goods grew by 32% in the first five months, and services by 38%. It is clear that rising prices are helping, especially for goods, as well as the pandemic base effect in tourism services, but to a large extent, these figures reflect a sustained increase in the profitability of the Latvian economy. Therefore, there will be money to fund support for those most affected by rising energy prices. There is no reason for panic, just as there is no reason for a simple assumption that everything will be fine.
On and about the industry
The forester states that he fully supports the amendments because they provide greater choices. Forest owners have learned to manage their land and are not in such a hurry to log. “For example, I have many stands that could have been logged according to the previously valid standards, and, of course, can be now. But if the trees are healthy and will still be able to provide growth, why cut them down?” In his view, the forests are threatened much more by the increasing desire to create new and more protected areas and to designate micro-reserves where economic activity is restricted or even prohibited, than by the new felling ages.
Wood can replace natural gas in heat and electricity production, which can be achieved through wood gasification equipment manufactured in Latvia, although these are currently being supplied to customers in Japan. Engineers at SIA Fortes have spent several years developing a cogeneration technology that uses biomass to create wood gas in a gas generator, producing both electricity and heat, as well as cold through the trigeneration process.
Since the spring of 2019, LVMI Silava, with the support of the Forest Sector Competence Centre, has implemented the studies “Development of a biological preparation for reducing losses caused by root rot in conifer stands” and “Heterobasidion root rot control in spruce stands – possibilities of using chemical protective agents in peat soils”. The studies concluded in June 2022.
The main conclusion after the nature census carried out for the first time in Latvia: forests and meadows are in a critically poor condition, while bogs, caves, and outcrops are in the best condition. Although Latvia has received warnings from the European Commission regarding insufficient work on ensuring biodiversity, the responsible ministry is in no rush to submit new proposals to the government for improving the situation.
Not true – the claim is not factual, it has no evidence, the author of the statement is lying or unintentionally misleading
Several posts have become popular on social media claiming that Latvia is secretly selling woodchips to Belarus. This would be a violation of the sanctions against Belarus. However, as Latvijas Dzelzceļš (LDz) explains, the woodchips are being exported to Poland and are only passing through Belarus because it is a simpler transit route for businesses. The source of the rumour is a post from 31 July by a Twitter user, featuring a photograph taken at Indra railway station.
On other things and much more
According to the government's decision, by 1 September, it should be clear how many state higher education institutions will remain in Latvia: whether a University of Latgale will be formed, and whether there will no longer be a permanent university in Kurzeme. In turn, by the end of this year, the government should decide whether the Banking Institution of Higher Education and the Latvian Academy of Sport Education will be merged into one of the research universities.
The Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LLU) is holding an open auction with ascending bids on 22 September at Jelgava Palace, selling Lielauce Palace (real estate “Pils” with cadastre number 4676 504 0009) and the real estate registered in LLU's name “Pilītes” (garages-workshops or the former manor coach house – with cadastre number 4676 504 0011), selling both as a single lot. The property includes Lielauce Palace with an area of 2269 square metres, a barn with an area of 38 square metres, and a garage-workshop with an area of 59.9 square metres. The starting price for the property is 280,200 euros.
To better understand the invasive Spanish slug species (Arion vulgaris) and to more successfully implement the restriction of its spread in Latvia, the Nature Research and Environmental Education Centre of Daugavpils University, in cooperation with the Nature Conservation Agency, implemented a project during which more than 400 DNA samples of invasive slugs were collected, genetic material was obtained for a gene bank, the taxonomic identity of the slugs in Latvia was confirmed, and representative data on the genetic diversity of the Spanish slug population and the species' pathways of spread were obtained.
“Overall, this pilot project can be considered very successful. Already in the first season, it was possible to observe individual pairs of birds visiting, feeding in, and exploring the closed floodplains. For us to restore their trust in these territories as good nesting sites, it will take several years,” explains Sintija Martinsone, Lead Expert of the Agency’s Nature Conservation Department’s Monitoring and Planning Division.
On 21 July, a meeting took place between representatives of the Latvian Soldier Memorial Society “Lestene” and local government officials, during which the plan to reconstruct two municipality-owned buildings, “Rūķīši” and “Likteņi”, as well as the creation of a park, were discussed.
The river does not care whether a person has built a stone pile that prevents fish from migrating and water from flowing, or whether we have installed a small hydroelectric power plant there. The impact on the river is similar. With any dam that regulates water levels, such as small hydro plants or sluices, we can rapidly change this water level, which creates even further impact.
This July, the renowned travel guide “Lonely Planet” included two hiking routes that cross Latvia among five new long-distance hiking trails worth paying attention to on a global scale. Immediately after the fall of the Iron Curtain, European cross-border hiking trails began to head in an Easterly direction, and the trails highlighted by “Lonely Planet” are connections created in recent years to the official European long-distance walking trails – E9 and E11. Specifically, the E9, whose Latvian section is called the Coastal Hiking Trail (Jūrtaka), is a 5500 km long coastal route that starts in Portugal – at Cape St. Vincent – and ends in the Narva area of Estonia. In turn, the E11 – the Latvian section of which consists of the Forest Trail (Mežtaka) – is a 4700 km long hiking route that starts in The Hague, Netherlands, and ends in Tallinn. In Latvian territory, the Forest Trail is 674 km long and divided into 31 sections; the Coastal Hiking Trail is shorter: 581 km, divided into 30 sections.
First: the voter already has firm considerations and favourites among the parties, so, accordingly, other parties' promises are simply not interesting to them. No problem, that is understandable. Second: if we keep in mind that coalitions wield power in Latvia, in principle, it does no harm to know what the parties for which a particular voter does not intend to vote are planning as well. Or even this: to gain some idea of the moods in Latvian society as a whole, if one has the time and patience, one can also read the programmes of parties whose arrival in a coalition is unlikely; yet the theses of these parties, whatever they may be, must surely reflect the views and desires of certain social groups. Viewed from this perspective, it does not matter whether I agree with Party X's idea; the question is about its feasibility.
Topical cartoons
Topical cartoons
