The Ministry of Economics (EM) has drawn up and submitted for inter-institutional approval a report on the reorganisation of small capital companies. It provides for merging small state-owned enterprises, thereby saving state budget funds and reducing bureaucracy.
EM is the first ministry to have planned a merger of the small capital companies within its remit, and it will continue to work in this direction, promoting optimisation and greater efficiency. This will put an end to the duplication of functions among capital companies owned directly or indirectly by the state and reduce the cost of maintaining them.
“This initiative is a clear signal that public administration is capable of change – of giving up unnecessary bureaucracy, optimising its resources and becoming more efficient. We are taking the lead by merging the capital companies under our supervision, and with this step we are proving that reforms can be carried out. Our aim is not merely to save budget funds – we are building a modern, purposeful system of state support for business, technology and innovation. Latvia must be able to act boldly so that in future it is an even more competitive, secure and sustainable country,” stresses Minister for Economics Viktors Valainis.
The report provides for the reorganisation to be carried out in two stages. In the first, three small state-owned enterprises will be merged – SIA “Latvijas nacionālais metroloģijas centrs” (LNMC) and SIA “Latvijas standarts” (LVS), both held by EM, as well as SIA “Latvijas proves birojs” (LPB), held by the Ministry of Finance. The functions and the services provided by these capital companies are similar in substance, so a merger would allow the funds allocated by the state to be used more efficiently, improve the quality of the services provided, foster technological development and innovation, and provide a single support platform for entrepreneurs and for developers of technology-intensive ideas. LVS and LPB would be merged into LNMC, which would henceforth perform the functions of the VKTA, focusing on conformity assessment, quality assurance and technical compliance. This stage is planned to be completed by July 2026.
Optimisation will cover human resources management, records management, financial accounting, the use of information and communication technologies, the organisation of procurement, and the management of buildings and infrastructure. This will ensure both a reduction in administrative expenditure and an improvement in the quality and efficiency of services, while reducing fragmentation and creating a single, professional support platform for all VKTA operational functions. According to initial estimates, the potential financial benefit of the merger could be around EUR 250,000.
In the second stage, similar functions relating to conformity assessment will be merged and centralised within a single VKTA. This is expected to affect VSIA “Latvijas Vides, ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centrs” (analyses of water, air, soil and radioactivity, calibration of measuring instruments), the Road Laboratory of the Road Competence Centre of VSIA “Latvijas Valsts ceļi” (testing of construction materials, etc.), the Metrology Laboratory of AS “Sadales tīkls” (measurements of electricity quality and calibration of equipment), the Technical Expertise Service of AS “Augstsprieguma tīkls” (testing of electrical systems and environmental parameters), the environmental noise measurement laboratory of VAS “Starptautiskā lidosta “Rīga”” and the mineral materials testing laboratory of AS “Latvijas valsts meži”
Before the reorganisation can begin to be implemented, the conceptual report must be adopted by the government.