Good for Business, Latvia, Logistics, Real Estate, Retail

A time capsule will be laid in the foundation of the would-be structure in Ulbrokas Street in a ceremony on Friday, Oct. 19. Latvia's Economic Affairs Minister Arvils Aseradens, Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs, Lidl Latvia CEO Radostin Roussev-Peine, and Merks CEO Oskars Ozolins are to attend, Merks told LETA.

Merks and Lidl Latvia have signed an agreement on the construction of a 47,000 square meter logistics center for retailer Lidl in Riga. The contract is for the construction of a logistics center made up of a warehouse and an adjacent administration building, with supporting facilities and infrastructure.

The value of the contract is 42.5 mln euros, plus value added tax, and the works are scheduled for completion in January 2020.

Lidl began preparing for entering the Baltic market in 2003 but later changed its mind and sold all land parcels bought in the three countries, citing the small size of the Baltic market. Some of the properties divested by Lidl were acquired by the A-Selver operator of supermarkets of the listed Estonian retailer Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp, which also had to leave Latvia eventually due to the economic crisis.

In the summer of 2017, Lidl again announced its plans to enter Latvia.

Lidl Latvija, originally named MMS Property Solutions, was registered in 2016. The company has a share capital of 20.5 mln euros and its sole owner is CE-Beteiligungs-GmbH, which also owns Lidl Lietuva.