"We have to take into account the indirect effect – the rise in electricity and gas costs for private individuals will certainly put more pressure on increasing wages," admitted Kristaps Klauss, executive director of the Latvian Forest Industry Federation (LKF).

He explained that the timber industry in Latvia is one of the largest purchasers of electricity, with the sector consuming approximately 14% of Latvia's total consumption. At the same time, until the autumn of this year, electricity accounted for an average of 4-6% of the sector's production costs.

"It is important to understand that the situation in the commercial sector is not uniform, i.e., depending on the time and type of contract, the price of electricity among timber producers varies from 60 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) to the current exchange price," said K. Klauss.