EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Real Estate

He said that Homburg did not choose the companies implementing the project according to the lowest bid principle – it had studied the market and selected top professionals, which is why the tragedy is "all the more horrifying."

Homburg group head for the Baltic countries, James Torpey, said that the procurement tender for the Zolitude project had been held before the project commenced in 2009, and Homburg was convinced that it had selected the best companies there were in Latvia, given the high reputation of the Re&Re construction company.

Also, a respectable bank acknowledged confidence in the project – Nordea bank had financed many projects implemented by Re&Re, and this further secured Homburg's belief in choosing the right company.

Torpey said that all persons who had bought apartments in the Zolitude apartment building would be fully refunded the price.

Fruytier went on to say that the project implemented in Zolitude was neither the largest, nor the most complicated of the projects implemented by Homburg group. The roof garden, too, was not a complex project.

Now, Homburg group wants to make sure first that the apartment building next to the collapsed supermarket building is safe, and the future of the building will be decided in consultation with the general public.

All construction activity on site was halted after the supermarket collapsed, and the developer currently has no access to the building. Once Homburg is permitted to enter the building, the company will send independent experts to examine the facility for all possible shortcomings. As soon as the developer has full information about the building's condition, talks about the future of the building will be held with the Riga City Council, but the final decision will be taken after consultation with the public.