Latvia

The 105th anniversary of the Patent Office of Latvia was celebrated on 8 April 2025 with the simultaneous visits of the World Intellectual Property Organization, the European Patent Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office

One of the first in a series of new civil protection seminars was held in Teika, a suburb in Riga; according to the municipality, the response was excellent, but residents' assessment of the seminar's value was mixed

The victory of the animated film Flow by director Gints Zilbalodis as Best Animated Film brought the first Oscar award for the country

111 people died in road accidents in Latvia in 2024, the lowest number since the country regained independence in 1991, according to information gathered by the State Police

On 1 and 2 February, Ģertrūdes Street Theatre will host 'Avots' language festival with thematic lectures, discussions and workshops exploring the languages in the context of the relationship between the individual and society, and lesser-used languages

There are 1.562 safe bomb shelters in the country according to latest survey of the State Fire and Rescue Service; Riga accounts for about 400 and they could accommodate about 200.000 people, or one third of the city's population

The supervision committee of the Bank of Latvia issued an electronic money institution operating license to company Paytegra, granting the operator the right to issue electronic money and offer payment instruments

AirBaltic is forced to cancel 19 routes and reduce operations on other 21, for a total of 4.670 flights cancelled from all its bases for summer 2025, losing over 67.000 passengers, due to shortage of engines and maintenance service of its A220-300 planes

The 77th long-awaited annual publication 'Latvian Statistical Yearbook, 2024' is now available free of charge in digital format in Latvian and English, published by the Central Statistical Office

The winner of Latvia's 'Car of the Year 2025' competition is the new Škoda Kodiaq, chosen by a jury among seven finalists; a total of 32 car models participated in this year's competition

Banks and their branches in Latvia will have to pay a solidarity contribution - 60% of excess profits - over the next three years after a new law on bank super-profits will be introduced next year

The Latvian Ministry of Defence published what it called a 'White Paper' of its spending plans for 2025, calling next year's defence budget 'the largest in Latvia's history', reaching 3,45% of gross domestic product