Considering the economic impact the Russian war in Ukraine and new sanction regimes have had on the supply and distribution chains, on the 2nd of June 2022 the parliament of Latvia approved a new law “Law to support overcoming consequences of the sanctions and counter-measures due Russian military aggression against Ukraine” to support the companies suffering economic hardship.
The law comes into effect on 9th of June 2022. The support is targeted towards economic operators affected by the consequences of the Russian military aggression, resulting from the decline in demand and turnover, disruption of existing contracts, disturbances in supply chains, price increases and the limitation of future investments. The support will not be awarded to the companies who are target by international and national sanctions.
Potential aid comes in form of support loans, grants, or investments in own capital. The support packages will be distributed with the help of the Alternative Investment Fund ALTUM:
- loans for working assets and investments in the amount of 39 million euros.
- guarantees in the amount of 22.5 million euros.
- export credit guarantees in the amount of 1.3 million euros.
- unspent financing of the equity fund from State budget resources in the amount of 32.1 million euros will be channeled to investments in enterprises to adapt their business models, improve export capacity, conquer new markets, new technologies and process optimization, as well as product development.
The specific program will be announced in upcoming weeks, beside the equity program, that will be announced by August after approval from the European Commission.
If your business has been impacted by the sanctions and counter measures, we encourage you to contact us, and we can help you prepare for the program roll-out and inform you about the development of the program implementation.
Beside the planned ALTUM programs, currently, businesses, regardless of industry, are eligible for joint procurement of raw materials for supplies to Latvia to buy more goods. However, to abide by the competition rules, each such agreement should be evaluated. We can help you navigate the competition rules and offer you a helping hand when communicating with the market watchdogs.
