LATVIAN NEWSLINKS
December 20, 2000 -January 2, 2001

Foreign Affairs

Latvia-EU accession talks will be opened on all negotiating issues (chapters) during the first half of 2001, according to the Work Programme of the EU Swedish Presidency.

 

Baltic states transit procedure unified. The agreement on the Baltic states' uniform transit procedure has taken effect as of 1 January 2001.  The agreement unifies the customs requirements for truckers, carrying transit cargo, so they don't have to produce different documents in each of the Baltic states which is designed to simplify and speed up crossing of the Baltic states for transporters of transit cargo.

 

Polls: Latvian euro-enthusiasm highest in Baltics. A coordinated poll of public support for integation in the EU and NATO was conducted in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Polls found the highest support of the EU-integration in Latvia, while Estonians were the most enthusiastic about NATO.

 

NATO membership support (per cent):

Latvia: pro 55, contra 32, no opinion 13

Estonia: pro 59, contra 26, no opinion 15

Lithuania: pro 37, contra 37, no opinion 25

 

EU integration support (per cent):

Latvia: pro 51, contra 37, no opinion 12

Estonia: pro 43, contra 45, no opinion 12

Lithuania: pro 40, contra 38,  no opinion 22

 

Poll was conducted by the member of Gallup International Association EMOR (Estonia), Baltic Data House (Latvia), SIC Market Research (Lithuania)

EU to reinforce its "Northern Dimension". Chris Patten, EU commissioner for external relations and Anna Lindh, foreign minister of Sweden, published and article about the EU's Northern Dimension in Financial Times(20-Dec-2000):

"We can provide significant financial leverage to back up the Northern Dimension within existing programmes. Phare, Interreg, and Tacis...It has been absurdly difficult to link money from these different sources. Projects financed under different funding mechanisms should be able to work together to bring added value. The Commission has decided there will now be a joint programming framework for Interreg and Phare... The Northern Dimension must be seen as an all-European commitment, just as much as the EU's policies towards the Mediterranean and the western Balkans. It is just the sort of area where the EU should be cutting its foreign policy teeth. The Commission and the Swedish presidency must now guide the EU to move from words to action."

Politics and Society

President Vike-Freiberga, Social Democrats top polls:

President Vaira Vike-Freiberga is the most popular politician in Latvia, according to a poll conducted by the public opinion studies centre SKDS in December. Vike-Freiberga's rating in December was 54.6 points on a -100 to +100 scale. Bank of Latvia President Einars Repse is second place with 52.5 points. Riga mayor Andris Argalis remained the third most popular politician, totalling 35.4 points.

 If a parliamentary election in Latvia was held in December 2000, Latvians would vote for:

 

- Social Democratic Workers Party (LSDSP) 17.8 per cent 

- For the Fatherland and Freedom-LNNK (TB-LNNK)  13.3 per cent

- Latvia's Way 11.6 per cent 

- Left-wing alliance For Human Rights in a United Latvia  6.9 per cent

- People's Party (Tautas partija) 6.7 per cent

 

16.9 per cent could not say which party they would vote for and 12 per cent said they were not going to take part in the elections, while 4.7 per cent will participate, but would not vote in the elections, according to SKDS poll.

 

Extremist gets jail sentence. A Riga city court today sentenced one of the leaders of the radical Latvian nationalist organization Perkonkrusts [Thunder Cross], Juris Recs, charged with bombing of the Victory monument in Riga and other offences, to a three-year jail term.

Nine candidates are running for Riga mayor in March elections, including incumbent Andris Argalis, former revenue minister Aija Poca and ex-finance minister Edmunds Krastins.

 

Government adopted guidelines for "e-Latvia" program aimed at promoting information technologies (IT) in the country.

Economy and Business

* Gross domestic product is expected to rise 5.0 to 6.0 percent year-on-year in 2001, while 2001 inflation will remain at the level of three percent, the Central bank said.  Minister of Economy was even more optimistic forcasting 2001 GDP growth of some seven percent.

* The overall tax burden is easing in 2001, following a one percent cut in the social tax. Newly built production facilities are enjoying a year-long tax holiday as well as a break in annual increases in excise tax on fuel and alcohol.

* Transport, cargo storage and the communications sector remain among key growth sectors in the economy, second only to trade and commercial services. The sector accounted for 17 percent of gross domestic product in the first nine months of 2000. It produced 473.4 million lats ($771.0 million), up 4.7 percent year-on-year.

* Current account deficit eased to 5.8 percent of GDP in the third quarter - or 63.4 million lats ($103.3 million) - versus seven percent in the second quarter.

* Shadow economy made up 17 percent of economic activity, according to EU-compliant calculations of the national statistics office. The figure is stable from 1999.

 

* The Latvian securities commission expects a 17 percent jump in total securities market volumes in 2001, to over four billion lats ($6.5 billion) from 2000, with foreign securities to see the highest increase.

* Minister Roberts Zile signed six memoranda for EU-financed programmes, opening the way for Latvia to receive 32.9 milion euro ($30.58 million) in the next three years.

* Privatization of the Latvian Shipping discussed. For Fatherland and Freedom Party, a junior coalition partner, said it was not satisfied with the privatisation rules for Latvian Shipping because they allow for a very narrow range of potential bidders. For Fatherland and Freedom faction in parliament and the opposition Social Democtrat Party said newly-approved privatisation rules for Latvian Shipping don't ensure the transparency and openness of the sell-off process.

* Electricity utility Latvenergo plans to invest 61.8 million lats ($100.8 million) in network modernisation in 2001. The company said it will have to borrow half of the planned sum.

* Cabinet approved its agriculture sector subsidy programme for 2001 - aimed at boosting the sector's competitiveness ahead of EU accession - at 20.8 million lats or three percent of the central government budget, a rise from from 17.5 million lats in 2000.

* Parliament decided to postpone introduction of the new Commercial code by three months, to April 1 to allow the government to secure the 0.8 million lats ($1.29 million) additional funding needed for its introduction.

* Riga Bourse President approved. 27 year-old Guntars Kokorevics - previously bourse' s finance manager replaces Uldis Cerps who became head of a new consolidated capital markets watchdog at the end of October.

* Banking sector consolidates. The central bank allowed Rietumu Bank, the sixth largest bank in Latvia, to acquire 100 percent in Saules, the fourth largest by way of assets. Rietumu itself recently, attracted a strategic investor from Iceland, Islandsbanki FBA.

 

* Latvia's biggest bank looking for Western investor. Parex Banka, which has been on a lookout for Western investor, said it had completed group restructuring for an easier valuation and would send information to potential investors after its 2000 audited annual report is available. Parex president Valeri Kargin said the bank was not looking for a portfolio investor but "a bank with a well known brand name from a resource-rich and influential state."  Parex has been working with Dutch ABN AMRO on a stake sale.

* All-digital TV by 2006.  European-based DVB-T as its digital television standard will be adopted in three-stage transition with the goal of shutting off analog broadcasts as early as 2006. In the first stage, Riga, its capital city, will launch digital broadcasts by the end of 2001, covering 45 percent of the country's population.

* The agriculture ministry said it will launch an on-line data base of the food processing sector  www.bode.lv