Riga City Council’s is slow to resolve the issue with the growing rent of the Olympic Sports Centre, according to Latvian Olympic Committee (LOK).
LOK representative Ruta Millere-Celmiņa reports that this topic will be discussed by the Saeima Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Wednesday, the 23rd of October. The Minister of Finance will be invited to attend this meeting.
LOK hopes to receive a clear explanation from Riga City Council representatives about the issue and its possible resolution. Three possible scenarios are considered.
One of them is to confirm that in the case of the Olympic Centre, 1.5% of the cadastral value of the land should continue to be applied to determine the rent. Or assume the Olympic Centre will raise the prices of services in line with the increase in prices, or in the worst case scenario, the centre will have to shut down, warns the LOK.
On the 11th of October, LETA reported that the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Science and Riga City Council had jointly come to a solution that would allow the Riga City Council to review the issue of determining the amount of rent for the Olympic Sports Centre, as the ministry’s representatives told LETA.
The Ministry of Finance informed that the Ministry of Education and Science, as a sectoral ministry, will, within the limits of its competence, provide information on the implementation of public functions provided by the Latvian Olympic Committee. The Olympic Sports Centre will provide information on the performance of these functions in the premises of the Olympic Sports Centre, which will allow the Riga City Council to set rents in the amount of 1.5% of the cadastral value in the premises of the Olympic Sports Centre as a whole or in part.
The Ministry of Finance also reminded that the lease agreement with the Olympic Sports Centre was concluded by the Riga City Council, so it would be up to the city council to assess the specific case.
For his part, Vice-Mayor of Riga Edvards Ratnieks expressed his scepticism about this possible solution. He explained to LETA that this interpretation of the rules may resolve the determination of the amount of rent for the Olympic Sports Centre, but does not address the situation with regard to about 120 more lease contracts with the municipality.
The land rent of the “Rimi” Olympic Centre until now was set at EUR 27 988 per year, but as of the 1st of October, due to amendments to the regulations on land and building rights of a public person, it is EUR 338 661 euros per year.
The municipality explained that the amendments came into force in April this year and provide that in the case of voluntarily shared property, the rent of a built-up plot is determined according to the market rent set by an independent appraiser and the lessee compensates the lessor for the amount of the independent appraiser’s remuneration invited to the lessor, if it is possible to attribute it to a particular lessee. In addition, the lessor must review the rent within six months in accordance with the market rent set by an independent appraiser.
Rimi Olympic Centre is owned by Latvian Olympic Committee.