Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (JV) on Thursday criticised the delay in presenting a clear reorientation plan for Latvia’s ports and logistics sector at a meeting of the Latvian Ports, Transit and Logistics Council.
At the start of the meeting, Siliņa said that she had received the documents of the sector’s reorientation action plan on Wednesday. “This looks like a paper shuffling! How much will it cost to the state, what are the concrete solutions? It will not be the case that the state will subsidise everything,” said Siliņa.
At the meeting, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) presented the action plan, which was drawn up in a working group with stakeholders. Among other things, the MoT called on the Council to set a number of tasks, for example for the port authorities of Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja to prepare information by February 2025 on the progress made in optimising expenditure and their proposals.
At the meeting, Siliņa criticised the call to give such tasks to the Council, asking whether the MoT could clarify this. She pointed out that at Thursday’s meeting she expected concrete plans to make ports more profitable. “I expected a concrete plan, not such and such report by next February. What was needed was a structured conversation,” said Siliņa.
Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens (P) said he accepted the criticism and pointed out that it was the MoT’s responsibility, and that clear ideas for reorienting the sector had been discussed with stakeholders, but not everything was fully reflected in the documents presented. “But of course, the MoT will continue to work on the five priority areas, including new international cargo flows, Latvian exports and domestic cargo, industrial development in ports/special economic zones, renewable energy projects and military mobility.”
Siliņa said that she expected a range of concrete ideas and concrete points for Latvia to act on, adding that the Council is also a place for concrete ideas, so there is a need to keep moving towards clear ideas, for example on moving ports towards a green course.
Finance Minister Arvils Ašeradens (JV), for his part, called for the MoT to be tasked with creating a national cargo development plan from 2025 to 2030, as well as from 2025 to 2035. “All we hear now is – we need money for this, and we need to finance this and that,” added Ašeradens.
The MoT also asked the Council to instruct the MoT to prepare a report by February 2025 in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Ministry of Economics (MoE) on the availability of state funding to ensure the solvency of ports and the possibility of granting payment holidays on loans issued by the State Treasury to port authorities and the possibility of re-crediting commercial bank loans with the State Treasury.
Igors Udodovs, Deputy Manager of the Freeport of Ventspils, added that it is necessary to grant these credit facilities because the Port of Ventspils has found a way to optimise its expenditure, but the loss of cargo is too high. Ašeradens said that the reasons are of course understandable, but the State Treasury will need to justify for how long the payment holidays will be needed, including whether a long-term plan is in place.
Siliņa pointed out that she personally believes that no decision can be taken on Thursday, as a structured plan is needed, not a description of the status quo. “We need concrete investment ideas that will help attract cargo, and payment holidays are not a Port Council issue,” Siliņa added.
However, the Council instructed the MoT to prepare a report by the 15th of February next year on a balanced infrastructure charge for road and rail transport, as well as to address military mobility aspects.
The Minister of Economics Viktors Valainis (ZSS) proposed that MoE could create a roadmap for the development of large ports, where business interests could be focused.
Siliņa agreed with this idea, pointing out that the MoE could work on this roadmap, as it is necessary to understand what to do with reorientation and where to get investments.
LETA already reported that in March this year, Siliņa instructed the MoT and the MoE to develop a plan for reorienting the transport and logistics sector away from Russia and Belarus.
The Latvian Ports, Transit and Logistics Council is a coordinating body for the ports and logistics sector, with the participation of the PM, several sector ministers, port managers, city managers and representatives from public organisations and other relevant government bodies. The Council provides an opportunity for the leading players in the sector, chaired by the PM, to discuss key issues to strengthen the sector’s competitiveness and agree on the way forward.