Pēteris Grūbe, head of the Riga Support Center for Ukrainians, told LETA that about 630 Ukrainian refugees arrive in Riga every month. Of these, 125 will be accommodated in the new premises.
The rest will be accommodated in hostels, outsourced to the municipality.
According to Grūbe, the premises on Ūnijas Street are intended for the initial accommodation of refugees for 120 days, during which time people are settling into their new situation, finding a place to live, looking for jobs, and placing their children in kindergartens and schools.
According to him, Ukrainians usually do not need such a long period of time and a large number of them move from temporary accommodation to permanent accommodation within 30-40 days. Grūbe added that the first residents from Ukraine will be accommodated in the new premises on Monday afternoon.
As the Riga City Council leadership said, it is important that the war ends as soon as possible, but while it drags on, fatigue or habituation must not set in.
The Department of Housing and Environment renovated the second and third floors of the building in 2023 to accommodate the Ukrainian long-term refugees who arrived in Riga after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The rooms have been equipped with furniture, kitchen appliances, and other household items. The accommodation consists of cubicle-type rooms, where one cubicle has two separate living rooms with shared facilities.
50 rooms are available. The average size of a living room is 12 square meters.
The building on Ūnijas Street could accommodate 125 persons at a time.
On the ground floor of the building is a multifunctional social services day center for children and adults "Paaudzes", which also provides support to Ukrainian civilians.
