Latvia, Transport

The number of taxis from other cities and towns, for instance, Jurmala, Bauska, Sigulda, Saulkrasti, has also been growing. Naglis points out that these taxis actually do not have the right to provide services in Riga as they do not have the respective license, writes LETA.

Naglis believes that the authorities must do more to control the developments in the taxi market, and this first of all concerns the Riga City Council's institutions.

Baltic Taxi hopes to also do business in other countries in the future.

Janis Naglis said in an interview with the business information portal "Nozare.lv" that the company is planning to expand in foreign markets next year, and become profitable in about three years.

According to Naglis, Baltic Taxi has already broken even and is hoping for a profit in three years or more. "Currently our task is to balance our revenue and spending, cover all the costs – insurance, leasing, outsourcing and so on," he explained.

At the moment Baltic Taxi fleet includes 50 cars and four minibuses.

In the future the taxi park should increase at least twofold. "Active work is under way with financial institutions that would be prepared to finance this project," said Naglis, adding that the situation in other cities and neighbor countries is also being analyzed.

Naglis also explains that, when expanding, Baltic Taxi will need a cooperation partner to ensure passenger flow, be it an airport, a railroad station or a seaport.

Naglis admits that the Latvian market is not very attractive at the moment. "We have considered large cities near Riga, for instance, Jelgava, but market saturation is already high there."

During an economic downturn, entering new markets is very dangerous and may result in financial problems, Naglis admits.

If the economic decline continues, the taxi business will be in for yet harder times. "The competition is becoming tougher every day, every hour, and unfortunately, it manifests itself in a negative way," said Naglis.