Under the law, qualified startups that have attracted at least €30,000 in equity capital investments will be able to receive corporate tax breaks and support for hiring qualified employees, among other things.
The law aims to generate more startups and, in turn, jobs in Latvia. Read it in full HERE.
Labs of Latvia, is an information platform about Latvia's booming startup scene supported by the ALTUM state-owned finance institution.
Latvian Startup Law finally translated into English https://t.co/nUEDCaRpON #startinLatvia pic.twitter.com/Br1WyJtFOG
— Labs Of Latvia (@labsoflatvia) January 4, 2017
However, just after this Anglophone announcement was made, the State Language Center, which is responsible for policing use of the Latvian language, confirmed it was issuing a fine because information at Jelgava railway station was provided in English and Russian as well as Latvian, reported local newspaper Jelgavas Vēstnesis.
As a state-owned company, Latvian Railways were duty bound to provide information in Latvian only, the State Language Center ruled. It refused to reveal precisely who was being fined or how much.
Complaints were received over the fact that electronic departure boards showed train times, destinations and numbers in Latvian, Russian and English.
Foreign languages were appropriate "On international tourist attractions" and main transport terminals - including Riga Railway Station - "but that is not applicable to Jelgava railway station" the State Language Center said, in a rather sniffy assessment of Jelgava's appeal to foreigners reported by the newspaper.
"We cannot turn the whole country into an international tourist attraction," the language police insisted.
On the bright side, a large number of foreign investors may potentially end up wandering around Jelgava.
