We have already written about the modern trend in Latvia where politicians or public sector employees seek to over-regulate everything. There are requirements upon requirements and reports upon reports. More than one representative of an entrepreneurial organisation has stated that the state is not doing everything to stimulate economic development, but rather to actively suppress the desire of entrepreneurs to work and conduct business. The result is that for a long time now, the number of liquidated companies has been significantly higher than the number of newly founded ones. And it is not just the constantly changing and increasingly complex rules of the game that are the problem; the control of their enforcement is also intensifying.

We are seeing this now, too – during the pandemic. As soon as an operational restriction is adopted, an army of officials immediately sets out to check everyone, because it is impossible to allow anyone to try and do something anyway, and the state must, after all, earn money through fines. We were able to see evidence of this last week as well, when the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) proudly announced that between 9 and 17 April, it had identified four shops that had been operating in violation of the amendments that came into effect on 7 April, which prohibit some shops located in large shopping centres from operating in person, as well as from issuing goods purchased remotely.