Green light given for industrial parks in four cities of Latvia

Jelgava, Ventspils, Liepaja, and Daugavpils have been given the green light for the construction of industrial parks – multi-million projects have been supported to receive funding from the Recovery Fund. Daugavpils could be more attractive to investors than other regions because of lower wage levels there, Latvian Television reports.

This month Daugavpils municipality has received approval from the Central Finance and Contracting Agency for the plan to invest a total of EUR 22 million in the Daugavpils airport territory. The funding will be used to repair access roads, build engineering communications and build one large production building.

“The production building will be divided into several blocks with the possibility to develop production for at least three production companies,” said Daugavpils Development Department head Daina Krīviņa.

Daugavpils claims that the city lacks free territories for industrial enterprises. The airport has a total area of more than 200 hectares, but the industrial park will take up only a small part. Almost or neighborly to this area – in Līksna parish in Augšdaugava municipality – the municipality has just received a state forest area of 256 hectares also for the construction of an industrial park.

“These are two different areas. There is real production for us, there are high technologies with high added value,” said Arvīds Kucins, Chairman of the Council of Augšdaugava Municipality.

Daugavpils Mayor Andrejs Elksniņš is also convinced: the more industrial parks, the better.

"In my view, all the funding given to industrial parks is not enough. [..] Pity that there will be no park of this kind in Rēzekne," Elksniņš said.

The evaluation is still ongoing in several other areas. In total, it is planned to distribute EUR 80 million from the Recovery Fund to industrial parks. Luminor economist Pēteris Strautiņš, who analyzes economic trends in regions every year, predicts that the biggest potential for Daugavpils to attract investors is to look for them in industrial sectors.

“Industry generally has a fairly similar level of wages, except Latgale. It is, of course, bad that there is a lower level of wages, but it also signals that it is possible to increase production there, is a vacancy in the labor market, “Strautiņš explained.

He is, however, skeptical about the need for the airport.

Daugavpils City Council continues to develop a building project, state funding worth EUR 1 million was promised two years ago by the former minister Artūrs Toms Plešs but the project is not yet ready. This is delayed because the environmental impact assessment has not been completed.

Source: Press release (www.eng.lsm.lv)
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