Latvia, Markets and Companies, Telecomunications

As the radio's director general, Dzintris Kolats, reported last night, the government has accepted the idea of lending money to the station to solve its financial woes, writes LETA.

The money would go for covering debt, but there must in tandem be a 15% cut in radio staff salaries, just as in all other government agencies, Godmanis added.

Kolats told the government yesterday that in 2009, a deficit of 1 million lats is expected in the radio's budget, half of which is from a decrease in number of commercials. He did not say what the other 500,000 lats is from.

Godmanis stated that if a company has no earnings, then expenditures must be reduced, underlining that there cannot be any talk of cutting back broadcasts, especially not for the radio's main Program One (LR1).