State Real Estate (VAS “Valsts nekustamie īpašumi”, or VNĪ) plans to hold another auction for the Moscow House on Marijas Street in Riga, with a starting price of 2.142 million euros, VNĪ reports.
According to a Cabinet of Ministers directive dated the 28th of March 2024, VNĪ has been instructed to sell this property through an auction, and therefore a new auction will be held. The upcoming auction will take place from the 26th of April to the 26th of May, with registration open until the 16th of May.
VNĪ had anticipated from the beginning that the property’s sale would be complex and time-consuming, so there are currently no plans to lower the starting price.
As previously reported, the latest auction, which concluded on the 17th of March ended without a result — no bids were submitted, according to the official e-auction site izsoles.ta.gov.lv.
The property at Marijas Street 7 includes a 966-square-meter plot of land and a building situated on it. The starting price for the auction is 2.142 million euros, with a bid increment set at 10 000 euros.
The first auction, which ended in September 2024, listed the Moscow House for 3.57 million euros. The starting price was then reduced by 20% to 2.856 million. A further auction, ending on the 9th of December 2024, lowered the starting price to 2.499 million euros, but again attracted no bidders.
The most recent auction, concluding on the 24th of February 2025, offered the property at 2.142 million euros — again with no success.
On the 11th of January 2024, the Saeima passed the law “On the Action Concerning Real Estate Required to Eliminate a Threat to National Security” in its final reading, which enabled the takeover of the so-called Moscow House into state ownership. The law aims to guarantee Latvia’s national security and prevent threats to the democratic order.
According to the authors — the National Security Committee (NDK) — the law ensures the cessation of political activities held under the guise of cultural events and educational programs at Moscow House, eliminates its role as a symbol of Russia’s “compatriot policy,” and removes a threat to Latvian sovereignty and national security.
On the 26th of March 2024, the government decided to transfer the property from the Ministry of Transport to the ownership of the Ministry of Finance.
It is planned that funds raised from the auction will go into the state budget and later be allocated to support the people of Ukraine.
The Moscow Cultural and Business Center was originally built in 1976. In early 2002, the former Railway Workers’ House underwent reconstruction after Moscow acquired it through a property exchange with Latvian Railways. It was officially opened on the 28th of May 2004. The five-story building, which also includes a basement level, has a total floor area of 4 482.4 square meters.
VNĪ was established in 1996 and is fully owned by the Ministry of Finance.