Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Port, Tourism, Transport

According to the news program, despite the spread of the virus, the Latvian state is interested in a ferry connection with both Stockholm and Helsinki.

"The minister suggested that it is also possible to apply for state aid, but it is nevertheless easiest to talk about the costs related to the port," Tallink CEO Paavo Nogene told the news program.

He added that all port and terminal related costs totaled over four million euros for Tallink in 2019. "And if it is possible to find significant relief in this respect, it will definitely reduce Tallink's operational risks," Nogene said.

"In October, we will sit behind a joint table with the managers of the Freeport of Riga to decide how to solve the problem of port dues and how to give a discount to Tallink in the future," Latvian Minister of Economic Affairs Janis Vitenbergs said.

"We are interested in the resumption of normal traffic between Riga and Stockholm as soon as possible. This is a priority," the minister said.

Tallink's Helsinki-Riga cruises have also proved to be very popular, but the Finnish infection rate has risen to around 16, so it is possible that the cruises will be interrupted if the Latvian government does not decide to increase the allowed infection rate.

"If the Latvian state says that those coming from Finland have to go into self-isolation even though they are only here for a day, then we have to suspend the route and then we will certainly not restore it until early summer," Nogene said, adding that if nothing significant happens in the meantime, Tallink will travel from Riga to Stockholm once a week.

Tallink, too, was able to use the wage compensation measure in Latvia, but redundancies are inevitable. "In Latvia, we are laying off approximately 95% of the people working here, or almost 600 people," Nogene said.

Tallink's hotel in Riga will be closed in a few weeks.