Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Shadow economy, Telecomunications

Of Latvia's 800,000 households, roughly 700,000 use subscription-based television services. "480,000 households use TV services provided by Lattelecom, Viasat and Baltcom, another 130,000 households use services of other legal operators," said Sauka. "Meanwhile, 100,000 households use services of illegal TV providers."

This leads to the loss of EUR 12 million in unpaid taxes, the researcher said, adding that this is a matter not only of money but also national security. "This is an uncontrolled stream of information, we do not know what these 240,000 residents of Latvia are watching, and this is more important than these EUR 12 million," he said.

No to Piracy in Latvia NGO has been founded by Latvia's TV industry companies: the Latvian branch of Viasat, Lattelecom, Baltcom and Pirmais Latvijas Kanals, as well as film distributors Forum Cinemas and Cinamon Kino.