Cargo, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Transport, Truck haulage

After the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority's decision, Kreiss has resumed operations in this country as planned and is meeting agreements with its business partners and clients, the company said.

The company's representatives explained that the situation that led to the suspension of Kreiss' operations in Norway could not be regarded as a conflict between Kreiss and the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. 

"Given the different interpretations of some legislative norms in Latvia and Norway, the parties had differing opinions about the form, content and terms for the provision of information, which led the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority to formally consider that Kreiss has missed the deadline for providing the requested information, although effectively all the requested information had been submitted on time," the company's representatives said.

As reported,  the Norwegian Road Haulage Association said on January 21 that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority has suspended Latvian trucking company Kreiss' operations in Norway as the company paid its truck drivers much less than stipulated by the Norwegian regulations. 

As a result, Kreiss was no longer permitted to perform freight transport operations in Norway as of January 20, according to the association's website.

The Norwegian Road Haulage Association pointed out that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority had determined that Kreiss pays its truck drivers in Norway much less than required by the Norwegian regulations.

According to the association, Kreiss paid drivers only NOK 24 (EUR 2.43) per hour, although the minimum wage for truck drivers in Norway is NOK 175.95 (EUR 17.81) per hour.

Since Kreiss had not immediately responded to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority, it decided to halt the company's operations in Norway.

Kreiss was registered in 1994, the company currently employs 2,914 people, including 2,437 international truck drivers.

The company's turnover in 2018 amounted to EUR 174.149 mln. The company posted EUR 1.581 mln in losses in 2018 as compared to a profit of EUR 1.468 mln in 2017. Kreiss belongs to Kuznecovs (50%) and Sergejs Zalizko (50%).