English
The Freeport of Riga Authority budget for 2015 was unanimously adopted by the Freeport of Riga Board at the Board’s meeting on December 18, 2014. In the framework of the budget it is planned to invest 69.6 million Euros into the Investment Program implementation, which will foster the competitiveness of the Freeport of Riga on the international maritime transport market. Taking into account the geopolitical situation while planning 2015 cargo turnover, the Freeport of Riga Authority cautiously assesses the future growth potential. The planned cargo turnover is 38.0 million tons.
The budget priorities are defined in compliance with the objectives, approved by the Freeport of Riga Development Programme 2009-2018 - to develop the Freeport of Riga as a leading port in the Baltic States and a major source of prosperity for the Latvian economy. With the aim to achieve the set objectives, the Freeport of Riga Authority highlights a number of priorities: to strengthen and expand the port customer base and find ways to avoid dependency on any single type of freight transshipment; to create a sustainable model for action by integrating environmental and social aspects into the operation of the port; to invest in new technologies and employ innovative methods to promote the Freeport service quality and efficiency; to work closely with the Latvian government, the city of Riga municipality and Riga residents to build a comprehensive and integrated transport infrastructure; to cooperate with stakeholders in order to develop land infrastructure, related to the Freeport of Riga operation, to the world-class level.
The next year's investment is allocated to the two-tier priorities. For implementation of the first-tier priority, including the project “Development of the Krievu Sala Infrastructure for Relocation of the Port Activities from the City Center”; dredging of access channel for vessels entering Riga port; capital renovation of the railway; construction of new elements of the railway infrastructure; railway design works according to the concluded agreements - it is planned to allot 61.1 million Euros, of which 49.4 million are planned for Krievu Sala project.
The second-tier priorities are as follows: design and construction of two railway tracks of the rail park “Kundziņsala”; construction of the Freeport of Riga Rinuzhi District connecting railway track; design and construction of other buildings and structures; renovation of bank protection structures at Kipsala; other capital repairs, reconstructions; purchase of movable and immovable fixed assets, for which a total of 8.5 million Euros has been approved.
Mr. Andris Ameriks, the Freeport of Riga Board Chairman, expresses his satisfaction that the budget for next year was adopted unanimously and it is in line with the ideas of the representatives of both the municipality and the Ministries. That means that the next year the Board members will be able to work side by side to jointly promote the development of the transshipment sector, which is one of the cornerstones of the Latvian economy. “My assessment of the next year's budget implementation in regards of the income section is quite optimistic. There are several prerequisites – the terminals have entered into the long-term contracts with the cargo owners, as well as several new terminals will start to operate at full capacity that will significantly increase the total volume of the handled cargo. According to our information large-scale investment is being planned on the Freeport of Riga territory. If businessmen were not confident that the investment would generate profit in the future, they would not have planned to invest. For our part, we need to do everything to ensure synergy of businessmen investment activity with the Freeport Authority’s investment into the infrastructure.”
The Freeport of Riga Board will assess the budget performance every quarter.
