Baltic States – CIS, Latvia, Russia

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Friday, 29.03.2024, 13:12

Latvian ambassador to Russia notes positive trends

BC, Riga, 17.02.2020.Print version
"Russia is still a significant economic cooperation partners for Latvia. I believe that with a clear stance and self-respect we should continue development of these relations also in the future," said Latvian Ambassador to Russia Maris Riekstins in an interview with the Latvian public television today.

The ambassador said that Russia in this respect is not Latvia's number one or number two partner, but has always been among the top five.


He said that bilateral trade with Russia is growing. In his words, trade of goods and services with Russia accounts for more than EUR 3.2 bn.


Cooperation also increases in tourism - the number of issued visas is rising 8-9% every year. The number of air passengers between both countries has risen by 18%.


In relation to ports, even though there is a drop in cargo turnover compared to 2018, it is not too dramatic. He said that Latvian ports handled 62 mln tons, most of the cargos are related with Russia.


Speaking about Russia's foreign policy, Riekstins said that even though the president has introduced changes in the government, the ministers in charge of foreign affairs and security have remained in their seats, so there are no big changes expected in that area.


The ambassador said that Latvia-Russia foreign policy relations should be viewed in the common Russia-West foreign policy relations, and they are problematic, including in the context of the developments in Crimea.






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