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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Thursday, 28.03.2024, 12:27
FDI accumulated in Latvian companies' capital down to EUR 7.23 bln in 2017
“After
aggregate FDI reached its all-time high in 2015, the last two years have been
marked by a downward trend,” Lursoft representatives said, adding that FDI
dropped by 3.2% in 2016 and by another 0.8% last year.
A total of 10,333 transactions involving FDI were
registered in Latvia last year as entrepreneurs were making investments in
Latvian-registered companies and withdrawing already invested money.
The biggest increase in FDI in 2017 was registered in
October when the capital of Cemex cement producer was raised by EUR 80 million.
The capital increase was made by the company’s sole shareholder, the
Dutch-registered company Rugby Holdings B.V.
The sharpest reduction in FDI, by EUR 159.33 million,
was recorded in December 2017. One of the reasons for the drop was the
liquidation of GE Money Latvia Holdings, which reduced the amount of FDI
accumulated in Latvia by EUR 226.79 million.
In 2017, FDI grew at the fastest rate in the real
estate sector where FDI rose by EUR 110.1 million last year. FDI in companies
making nonmetallic mineral products grew by EUR 56.98 million.
FDI grew by EUR 45.12 million in warehousing and
logistics and by EUR 28.64 million in land and pipeline transportation
enterprises. FDI in the construction sector rose by EUR 26.46 million in 2017.
Like in previous years, Russia was the main supplier
of FDI to Latvia with 1,002 investments made last year. Lithuania followed with
455 investments, Estonia with 431, Ukraine with 331 and Belarus with 224
investments.
While Russian entrepreneurs made the highest number of
investments, the largest amount of FDI came from the Netherlands as Dutch
entrepreneurs provided EUR 217.66 million in FDI to Latvian businesses in 2017.