Latvia, Transport

In all countries where highway maintenance fund is liquidated it takes ten to fifteen years for infrastructure to become unusable due to wear and tear, and the community begins to realize that something must be changed. In Latvia, ten years have passed since 2003 when the Highway Fund was liquidated. "Now is the right time to change this attitude," emphasizes Lange.

The goal is efficient and convenient traffic, however, the ever-insufficient funding for the past twenty years, society's mistrust of the road maintenance sector, and limited demand have so far made it impossible to change the situation. "There is public interest in roads for just one or two months a year, in the spring when potholes are mended. After that, there are always other priorities," says Lange.

All revenue from excise tax and vehicle tax goes to the state budget, not to road construction and maintenance. "This means there is no correlation, such as, the more I drive, the more money goes to roads," concludes Lange.

As reported, during LVC shareholders' meeting at the end of July, the Transport Ministry accepted the resignation of the company's board chairman Ivars Paze due to Paze accepting a job offer from another company - Ritosa sastava serviss - and leaving LVC. Lange, an LVC board member, was appointed the company's acting board chairman.