Latvian government mulls additional aid in energy crisis

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The coalition has started to discuss proposals on additional support for residents due to rising energy prices. Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said in a media briefing January 17 that existing aid is not enough.

“The main theme we all talked about today was the rapid rise in energy prices, which is taking place around the world and, of course, also in Latvia, it affects the people of our country,” Kariņš said after the coalition meeting.

He noted that until now, the government has adopted five types of aid for a total of €200 million. However, it has been concluded that the increase in energy prices is more substantial than it seemed a few months ago.

“We agree that we need to find [a way] to extend the existing aid more in line with the situation,” the Prime Minister said.

He acknowledged that on Monday, January 17, politicians did not yet reach a solution and will continue work this week to agree on how to aid residents with rising prices.

At the same time, Kariņš pointed out that there is such a crisis around the world, but Latvia needs to start to reflect on what energy it consumes. “In the long term, we as a society will have to go to other energy sources. We see Russia now clearly manipulating gas supplies, so gas and electricity prices across Europe. And we have to look at how we could reduce our dependency on this fossil fuel. Of course, it's a transition that will take several years,” the head of government said.

 

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