Latvia, Port, Transport, USA
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Friday, 29.03.2024, 10:24
Functions of Ventspils Freeport Authority to be handed over to state company - Linkaits
On Friday, the first meeting of the workgroup on how to
ensure uninterrupted operations of Ventspils Freeport was held.
The workgrpup discussed the current situation and concluded
that the legislative amendments to the Law on Ports adopted by the Saeima on
December 12 on the state taking over the Riga and Ventspils port are not
sufficient.
The workgroup decided to submit a proposal to the Cabinet of
Ministers on establishment of a new state-owned company that will take over the
functions of the Ventspils Freeport Authority.
"We are in a situation when there are 30 days to ensure
further successful operations in the territory of Ventpils Freeport, and we
will do everything possible so that there is a new legal entities that can
conclude all the necessary business deals with companies," said the
minister.
Linkaits underscored that the state is doing everything
possible to ensure that Ventspils Freeport is taken off the list of the US
sanctions. "We are doing everything possible so that none of the persons
listed in the sanctions does not have any influence on processes at the
Ventspils port," he said.
As reported, the US Department of the Treasury's Office of
Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) on December 9 imposed sanctions on a number of
physical and legal persons in Europe, Asia and Latin America, including on Latvia's
Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs, based on the so-called Magnitsky act.
OFAC has listed four organizations that belong to or are
controlled by Lembergs - Vetspils Freeport Administration, Ventspils
Development Agency, Business Development Agency, and the Latvian Transport
Business Association.