More support for Latvian residents may be approved once bills have been received for utilities in October, said chairman of Saeima’s Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee Krišjānis Feldmans.
He mentioned Latvia will have to act similarly as it did with Covid-19 aid, which had to be improved because the «detailed» approach suggested by officials ended up ignoring a group of people, denying them state aid.
Politicians will have to resolve problematic issues with energy aid regulations so that some of the residents eligible for support are not left out due to come unnecessary conditions, said Feldmans.
The politician allowed that high bills in October may cause a «moment of shock» in November over the size of costs – then it will be clear which corrections are necessary to the support mechanism.
The head of the committee mentioned the high electricity prices are the consequences of slowing the implementation of Skulte liquefied natural gas terminal project for a very long time.
As reported, the government’s proposed amendments to the Law on Measures to Reduce Extreme Rise in Energy Prices were passed by the Saeima. These amendments are intended to help partially cover increasing heating costs for households.
Amendments were initiated to reduce the negative socioeconomic effect on residents’ income caused by the rapid surge of energy prices.
The support package’s total volume of funding available for different measures is about EUR 442.25 million.
There are also plans to provide support to approximately 250 energy-intensive manufacturing companies to help compensate the growing energy prices, Latvian Ministry of Economics reports.