To progress with the sea port reform, officials have started working on legal topics. It is also planned to wait for the ruling from the Constitutional Court, says Minister of Transport Jānis Vitenbergs.
He said that the 1st of January 2022 was the term by which it was planned to liquidate the Freeport of Riga and Freeport of Ventspils and transition to new sea port management structures. Ventas osta in Ventspils is already composed and the documents for the foundation of Rīgas osta JSC are submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers. However, no decision has arrived yet.
«Lately it has been unclear how workers are to migrate from one structure to another and whether compensations are needed. Then there is the issue of asset value. The liquidation committee is currently looking at how much property both sea ports have and what financial commitments they have before banks. It is hard for me to say why work operations have gone down in recent months. This topic is not in sufficient focus,» said the minister, adding that it is important to keep in mind that during the 13th Saeima’s term opposition members asked the Constitutional Court to look into the sea port reform.
Before it is possible to move forward, it is important to wait for the court’ ruling.
Vitenbergs said it is planned to organise a discussion in the government about future steps to take.
«I can see we will have to request an extension of the term to complete aforementioned tasks. I also hope we will see the ruling from the Constitutional Court soon so that it is clear if the court approves of this path we have decided to take,» said the minister. He is also confident
there won’t be any major changes, nor will the life of sea port workers or entire municipalities change all that much.
«It is a switch of the management model to one already in place in a number of sea ports of European countries, including, for example, the sea port of Rotterdam,» said Vitenbergs.
He said right now it is important to asses the real volume of assets – real estate, movable and immovable assets. «There will be a discussion on how to carry over the financial portfolio from the current to a new capital association,» said Vitenbergs, adding that these are legal issues, and they are being worked on.
«I believe the government will soon have a new term, and we will see a way to implement all this,» said Vitenbergs.
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