Latvia market overview

In 2010, Latvia’s economic growth exceeded the most positive forecasts. The ability of the Latvian businesses to cut their costs and faster-than-expected improvement in foreign markets helped the growth of exports and promoted industry as the main driving force of the Latvian economy.

The residential market has started to slowly recover as well. Consequently, in the 3rd quarter of 2010, the GDP increase was seen also in year-on-year terms - for the first time after a decline lasting more than two years.

There is a huge demand for credit support outside the banks’ traditional area of activity, e. g. in the sector of new businesses. As the market gains power, the banks are granting more actively.

On 12 October 2011, the Bank of Latvia received its annual discussion on economic growth. Achievements and Prospects in the Baltic States.
The part I Economic progress in Europe and their suggestions for the Baltic States: academic and policy perspective was dedicated to the analysis of the introduction of the euro — the recently completed changeover to the individual EU currency in Estonia and the planned changeover in Latvia.

The part II Latvia's exports: potential, challenges and likely prospects involved presentations by representatives of a business, an industrial association, a bank and a public institution serving exports which enabled us to judge of the long-term sustainability of the obvious export increase achieved to date.

There are 26 existing credit companies in Latvia.
As of 1 January, Latvia uses the euro as its remaining legal tender.

Introduction of the euro
Completing the time of equal circulation of lats and euro, i. e. the first two weeks of the year, the changeover to the euro in money and in return systems has become place easily and without delays or other incidents.

As of 15 January, the euro is the single official tender in Latvia, yet the change of cash lats is lasting and is taking place as thought and stated:
in 302 post offices, often in the countryside — until the end of March,
in investment banks — until the end of June,
at money offices of the Bank of Latvia in Liepāja, Daugavpils, and Riga — for an unlimited time.

Holding company structure in Latvia

From 1 January 2013, dividends will not be taxed, thus Latvia will introduce and recognize a corporate structure. The exemption applies to residents and non-residents as well as to natural and legal persons not established in low-tax countries and territories. It is expected to facilitate business through Latvian companies and to limit offshore transactions.

Amendments to the Corporate Income Law provide that, as of January 1, 2013, dividend income arising from a transfer of shares is not taxable, for both resident and non-resident. However, these rules do not apply to countries and territories included in the offshore list.

As far as taxes are concerned, not all offshore areas are included in the list of low tax and free tax zones and territories for tax purposes. The list is set out in Cabinet of Ministers Regulations No. 276 adopted on 26 June 2001. Sixty-four countries and territories have recently updated regulations.

It is common practice in Europe to maintain a holding system. The new events will help Latvia to attract investors and promote the business environment.

Concerning holding companies, the frequency of dividend distribution, the holding period and the number of shares may play an important role. Latvian law does not impose any obstacles in this regard. The Latvian Corporate Income Tax Act does not expressis verbis require either the term of holding or the number of shares. Thus, Latvian law offers advantages over jurisdictions such as Cyprus, Germany or Malta.

Another advantage is the lack of special requirements for foreign entrepreneurs. For example, there are no barriers or restrictions for foreigners to be a director or to become a shareholder, ie citizenship or residence is not relevant. There are also no special requirements for using a Latvian bank account, and foreign bank accounts are allowed.

By the Latvian Company Law, dividends are paid annually based on a resolution of the shareholders.

Business in Latvia: Languages practiced

Language is important in many aspects, thus in business communication and workflow language matters as well. Especially if you are international company then you have to make sure inner departments do understand each other and local people.

Language via conquest

Latvia is a multi-cultural country with long history of co-operation and/or being occupied by foreign nation forces. Therefore I will show and explain to you which languages Latvia and Latvians will be familiar to use in business and daily communication. Bear in mind that there has been active occupation in some point of time by Sweden, Germany, Lithuania (Poland-Lithuania) and Russia among some shorter period occupations. Recent USSR occupation has left Russian language as a legacy to Latvian nation.

Languages via Curriculum

In Latvian schools second and third language is being taught. Second is English language, third is to be chosen Russian or German. Approaching university youth is presented with various choices such as German, French, Swedish, Spanish etc. even Hebrew, Chinese and Arabic are chosen in rare cases.

Countrywide usage of language

Because of USSR occupation Russian language is mother tongue of 28% citizens of Latvia and is understood by 50%-60% of citizens making it widely used second language, however curriculum program of teaching English as second language from early 90's has made it widely understood, an estimate of 30% of public speaks/understands English language. Furthermore German, French and Spanish are popular hobbyist languages to learn.

So it is easy to say English and Russian will be understood and used enough to maintain daily workflow. Any other language is per CV request and is based around 2%-5%(speculative) of population.

Commercial register of Latvia

Commercial register of Latvia provides following services. Read further to acknowledge Commercial Register functions in Latvia.

Online terminal of banks in Latvia

Online terminal of banks

Online banking is an electronic payment system that enables customers of a financial institution to conduct financial transactions on a website operated by the institution, such as a retail bank, virtual bank, credit union or building society. Online banking is also referred as Internet banking, e-banking, virtual banking and by other terms.

Online banking in Latvia

In Latvia banking sphere is well developed and any individual will enjoy high quality service. Read more to see what options online Latvian banks provide with it's users.

Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Latvia

ATM

A machine, activated by a magnetically encoded card or other medium, that can process a variety of banking transactions. These include accepting deposits and loan payments, providing withdrawals, and transferring funds between accounts.

ATM's in Latvia

As of 2014 there are 1154 active ATM's in Latvia.^[1] Latvia's 1,99^[2] million inhabitants hold 2385 bank payment cards.

Biggest bank ATM's locations

Swedbank: link
SEB: link
Citadele: link
DNB Nord: link

Nordea: link (Latvian)

SEB works to rebuild profits

RIGA - Although Swedish bank SEB has not yet recovered all that was lost during the financial crisis, overall, the bank’s operations have recently been profitable in Latvia, SEB bank President Ainars Ozols said in an interview with Rietumu Radio on Feb. 26, reports LETA.

“Overall, we have been operating with a small profit, but profit nonetheless, since SEB entered Latvia in 1993; however, following the crisis, we have not yet recovered what we lost,” confirmed Ozols. It is not a goal of the bank though to recover the lost money as soon as possible, but to organize operations so it would function without losses in the future.

2013 was a successful year for SEB bank - there were positive trends, new clients joined the bank and it began implementation of new projects, said Ozols. In terms of profits, 2013 was a “mediocre” year, however.

Source: http://baltictimes.delfi.lv/news/articles/34508/#.U1-SbFWSymE

Last year 40% GDP of Latvian enterprises consisted of 7 billion Euros

Last year 40% GDP of Latvian enterprises consisted of 10 billion Euros

First 37 000 enterprises who submitted annual return total turnover were 9.9 billion Euros, but single enterprise's average turnover were 263 000 Euros.

In comparison with last term there is visible financial improvement. From 230 000 Eur in 2012 to 263 000 Eur in 2013 is 14% annual economics growth.

Also profitability has improved by 2 times then in period before.

Lawyer in the Republic of Latvia

A lawyer is needed when problems in front of law or court arrise.
There is my project called "Lawyer in Latvia" where you can obtain corporate lawyer services through my cooperative company called Baltic Legal (I work as internet marketing specialist).

Visit the project here.

Immigration for Indians and investment in Latvia

I just uploaded a new article about immigration to Europe, Latvia. But this article was made specifically for Indians.

Real Estate in Latvia

Be sure to open escrow account in Latvia when you do purchase a real estate. It will give you a guarantee you don't lose your money and that you actually obtain your purchased item, in this case, house, apartment, land, factory or storehouse.

Residence permit in Latvia (Immigration to Europe)

Residence permit in Latvia is a document that provides possibilities in all Europe.

You can check more information here or read any of my collected resources:

http://www.immigration-residency.eu/residence-permit-latvia/

Top immigration destinations in Europe

We at our office made a list of top immigration destinations in Europe:

These are the following countries to immigrate to:

Austria
Czech rep.
France 
Germany 
Latvia (Our service)

Residence permit in Latvia - a new website, much better then the rest

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs

The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs is constantly developing and improving its work in order to increase contribution in promoting the development of the society and the state, as well as to implement its responsibilities on a qualitative level. We need support and appreciation of the society to reach the set goals! // http://www.pmlp.gov.lv/en/

Residence permit In Latvia

Residence permit in Latvia makes your life much easier if you want to reside, work or study in Latvia or other Schengen countries. Currently there are two kinds of residence permit available: the permanent and the temporary one. The biggest advantage of the residence permit in Latvia is the fact, that you are entitled to enter Schengen countries without any visa or other formal registration, which makes it easier for you to run business in Europe and travel. // http://www.immigration-residency.eu/

Watch the video

Business in Latvia - European countries and questions about immigration

Here is full list of European countries. Actual website provides services in searching for real estate and immigration process.

And If you have questions about immigration, you can always click here and find out the answers.

General questions

These are general questions about website, our work and practice area.

• Who we are?
• What is our liability? -The disclaimer

Residence permit

A residence permit in Latvia related questions.

• Who can Apply for residence permit?
• How to Apply for residence permit?
• What is the Procedure?
• Is there any difference if I purchase the real estate for LVL 50,000 or LVL 100,000?
• How many times do I need to visit Latvia to purchase the real estate and to apply for the residence permit?
• Is there any chance that my residence permit request will be rejected?
• Is there any difference if I receive the residence permit based on the investment or the real estate?
• Once I have obtained the residence permit in Latvia, can I live in other Schengen area countries?
• What rights does a residence permit entitle its holder to?
• What is the most efficient way to receive a residence permit in Latvia?
• How popular is acquisition of the residence permit by financial investment?
• How much money do I need to invest in a Latvian company to apply for a residence permit?
• How much money do I need to invest in a Latvian bank in order to apply for a residence permit?
• If I have a residence permit, can my family qualify?
• Can I apply for a residence permit, if someone else pays for my purchase of the real estate?
• Investing money into a Latvian company, what companies are considered Latvian?
• Which law governs acquisition of the residence permit in Latvia?
• What state institution is responsible for granting a residence permit in Latvia?

Real Estate in Latvia

Real estate in Latvia related questions.

• How to find real estate in Latvia?
• Purchasing real estate
• What to do when I own real estate in Latvia?
• What are the locations of the most demanded real estate?
• How many investors requested residence permit based on purchase of the real estate?
• If I purchase real estate in order to apply for a residence permit, can I pay in cash?

Region

• How do I get to Europe?
• Where can I find more information about Latvia?

Schengen

• What is Schengen Area?
• What countries do participate in Schengen Area?
• What do I need to enter the Schengen Area and to travel within it if I am not a EU citizen?

Business in Latvia: Here is the chance for Latvians (Latvian language)

For everyone seeking chance to find work in Latvia see this link (Latvian language).

Business in Latvia: Possibilities to obtain a residence permit

I just wanted to remind you all my readers that there is option to invest in real estate in Latvia.

If you want to know more, then click here.

Or other way - read further, a quote from that exact very webpage:

How I attended Social Media Marketing Conference

I (Artis Zelmenis) wrote an essay about Social Media Marketing Conference in Riga that happened in early spring. So here it is.

An event - Social Media Marketing Conference

There was an event – conference in Riga, few months ago. It was for new or well established company owners on how to attract customers through social media like Twitter, Facebook and local draugiem.lv.

Read further who ruined the conference.

Real estate market in Latvia dropdwon and rise

In fall of 2007 in August Latvia experienced economical crisis because of bubble in real estate market. By then loans had grew so big Latvian economics couldn't handle them and broke.

The fall was hurtful, but then followed the rise, as predicted.

So, what is the situation now in Latvia real estate market? Read further.

Business in Latvia: Insurance

Insurance in Latvia has 391 companies taking actions in insurance industry, thus not all of them are direct insurers. However when searching in 1188.lv unofficial local catalog of companies the number grows up to 500 companies.

How much insurance company can earn?