Ecology, Latvia, Markets and Companies

She said that the parliament when revising the bill on waste management rejected the Competition Council's proposal that waste management in such a large city as Riga should be carried out based on the free market principles - the existing and probably new service providers could operate in the market, meeting certain criteria and receiving a license.

Even though Riga has selected service providers in a tender, the law does not ensure sufficient competition among service providers and the best result for individuals and legal entities, said Gorskova. The Competition Council has already voiced its concerns about uncertain criteria about zones in the city that significantly differed by the size, the amount of waste to be collected, population density and other criteria.

As a result of the procurement, residents of Riga and legal entity are obliged to select the one service provider that has won the tender in the particular zone and has no choice to select the best offer. Besides, there is up to 30 % difference in tariffs among zones.

As reported, as of May 20, there is a new waste management system effective in Riga, according to which the city is divided into four zones, where waste collection services are provided by companies Clean R, Eco Baltia vide, and Lautus Vide partnership between Lautus and Pilsetvides Serviss companies.