Index Cards by Country LATVIA

Index cards by country

Latvia Free zones, Special Economic Zone, Free port, Speciālajās ekonomiskajās zonās

Index cards realized by the University of Reims, France Conception: F. Bost Data collected by F. Bost and D. Messaoudi Map and layout: S. Piantoni WFZO Index cards - Latvia

Official Terms for Free Zones Year of promulgation of the first text Free zones, Special Economic Zone, of law concerning the Free Zones Free port, Speciālajās ekonomiskajās 1921 zonās

Possibility to be established as Exact number of Free Zones Free Points 4 No

Table of contents

Free Zones...... 4 General information...... 4 List of operating Free Zones...... 6 Contacts...... 7 Free Zones Web sites selection...... 8

2 WFZO Index cards - Latvia

ESTONIA

Pskov

Free port of Ventspils RUSSIA

Free Port of Riga

Riga Free port Special Economic of Liepaja Zone of Rezekne

LITHUANIA

BELARUS

RUSSIA Vilnius FREE ZONES IN LATVIA 50 km International borders Elevations (meters) Cities 0 200 500 1000 Free Zones

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FREE ZONES

General information Official definition “Free zones are special areas within the customs territory of the Community. Goods placed within these areas are free of import duties, VAT and other import charges. Free zone treatment applies to both non-Community and Community goods. Non-Community goods stored in the zone are considered as not yet imported to the Customs territory of the Community whereas certain Community goods stored in free zones can be considered as already exported. On importation, free zones are mainly for storage of non-Community goods until they are released for free circulation. No import declaration has to be lodged as long as the goods are stored in the free zone. Import and export declara- tions have only to be lodged when the goods leave the free zone. In addition, there may be special reliefs available in free zones from other taxes, excises or local duties. These will differ from one zone to another. The free zones are mainly a service for traders to facilitate trading procedures by allowing fewer customs formalities.

Types of free zones: • Control type I free zones have a perimeter fence so that goods placed there, which is supervised by customs, are automatically under this regime. • The rules for control type II free zones are essentially the same as those governing customs warehouses. This means that, unlike with traditional-style free zones, the goods are subjected to a declaration in order to be able to benefit from the arrangement”.

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/customs-procedures/what-is-importation/free-zones_en

Number of free zones 4

Main sectors of activity -Freeport of Riga: 18 companies working in a free zone regime (3 companies are working without applying the free zone regime) in 2015. -Freeport of Ventspils: 44 companies in 2015. -Rezekne Special Economic Zone: 17 companies in 2015. -Liepaja Special Economic Zone: 37 companies in 2015. Source: Latvia smart investment (www.lia.gov.lv)

Number of active compa- -Freeport of Riga: cargo handling, warehousing and storage, freight forwarding, nies in Free Zones space rental, manufacturing, ship chandlers, servicing, added value services, tugboat services, building and repair of ships, yacht and water transport tou- rism, shipping waste acceptance and management services. -Freeport of Ventspils: engineering, automotive, electronics and IT Chemical Industry, wood Processing, metalworking. -Rezekne Special Economic Zone: woodworking, metalworking, production of tools and equipment, warehousing and storage, manufacture of beverages, wholesale and services, manufacture of textiles. -Liepaja Special Economic Zone: mechanical engineering, metalworking, manufacture of textiles, fishing industry, port services – cargo handling, processing, storage services. Source: Latvia smart investment (www.lia.gov.lv)

Total job numbers Total: 10 428 in 2015 -The Freeport of Riga: 4 872 -The Freeport of Ventspils: 2 782 (in manufacturing companies: 1 111; in termi- nals: 1 671) -Rezekne Special Economic Zone: 772 -Liepaja Special Economic Zone: 2 052 Source: Latvijas Investīciju un attīstības aģentūra Investment and Development Agency of Latvia 4 WFZO Index cards - Latvia

Distribution of investors -Freeport of Riga: Latvia, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America. -Freeport of Ventspils: Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Latvia, Germany, Bel- gium, Russia, Norway, United Kingdom, and Belgium. -Rezekne Special Economic Zone: Luxembourg 72.42%, Sweden 22.04%, Swit- zerland 4.53%, Norway 1%. -Liepaja Special Economic Zone: mostly companies with Scandinavian capital. Source: Latvijas Investīciju un attīstības aģentūra Investment and Development Agency of Latvia

Exports and sales No information

Free zones contribution -Freeport of Riga: total cargo turnover in 2015 reached 401 million tons. to the national economy Companies working in the Freeport have paid 35 million € in taxes in 2014. -Freeport of Ventspils: total cargo turnover in 2015 reached 22.5 million tons. -Rezekne Special Economic Zone: in 2014 RSEZ companies have made long term investments in modern technologies and development of infrastructure for more than 14 million €. From 1998 to 2014, the total turnover of the companies has reached 64.7 million €. In 2014 export levels have reached 24.9 million €. -Liepaja Special Economic Zone: neto turnover of LSEZ companies in 2014 148.59 million €, of which export 93.02 million €. In 2014 LSEZ companies have made long term investments in modern technologies and development of infrastructure for more than 5.4 million €. The amount of total investments (1997-2014) 221.14 million €. Source: Latvijas Investīciju un attīstības aģentūra Investment and Development Agency of Latvia

Corporate Tax and Incen- The following tax incentives are applied to the companies operating in a free tives economic zone: Taxes Free economic zone Usual Tax Rate Corporate tax 3% 15% Real estate tax 0.032-0.48% 0.2 - 3%

-Exemption from VAT -Exemption from customs duty on imports and exports. -An 80 %/100% exemption from real estate tax. -A rebate of 80% on corporation tax. -The option to offset losses 10 years forward. Increased rates of depreciation. Source: http://www.liaa.gov.lv/en/invest-latvia/investor-business-guide/incentives-investors/tax-incentives

Free Zone law The first Law on Free Ports in Latvia was passed on March 20, 1921.

On July 27, 2001 the Saeima adopted the law «On Tax Application in Free Ports and Special Economic Zones». http://likumi.lv/about.php http://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=33419

The Free zones program has been established in 1997 for 20 years (until 2017) to promote entrepreneurial activities within the regions.

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List of operating Free Zones Name Location Surface area Contacts Observations

Free Port Located in Freeport of Riga Au- Opened in 1996. of Riga the territory thority of Riga (Capi- 12 Kalpaka blvd, Riga, tal of Latvia). Latvia, LV-1010 Phone: (+371) 67030800 Fax: (+371) 67030835 E-mail: info@freeportofriga.lv Internet: www.freeportofriga.lv

Free Venstspils is More than Freeport of Ventspils “Territories of more than 500 port of a part of the 700 hectares authority ha equipped with electricity, Ventspils East-West Jana 19, Ventspils, IT and telecommunications as railway cor- LV-3601, Latvia Phone: well as other utilities waiting ridor; railway (+371) 636 22586 for new industries (possible in- connects Fax: (+371) 636 21297 vestments for the development Ventspils marketing@por- of company infrastructure). with Europe, tofventspils.lv Rent no bigger than 0.25-0.5% Russia, CIS of the land’s cadastral value countries and with a possibility to purchase Asia. land ownership”. http://www.portofventspils.lv/ en/invest-in-ventspils

Free port Open cargo Liepaja Special Econo- In 2014, Companies in the of Liepaja storage: mic Zone Authority port of Liepaja handled 5 299 440 000 m² 4 Feniksa street, Liepa- 899.47 tons of different type of Warehouses: ja, LV-3401, Latvia cargo. The growth increased by 70 000 m² Tel.: +371 63427605 9.5% if compared to year 2013. Silos : 74 400 Fax: +371 63480252 The amount of served ships: m² E-mail: [email protected] 1368. The amount of passen- Cold storage: gers: 42 305. The amount of 25 200 m² cargo containers: 3615 TEU, -Liquid cargo The amount of RO-RO trailers: reservoirs: 75 32 264. 000 m²

Special Rezekne is The total Rēzekne Special Econo- Opened in 1997. Economic an eastern area of RSEZ mic Zone Authority Tax incentives in RSEZ are Zone of boarder city is 1155 ha. Atbrīvošanas aleja applicable until 31 December Rezekne. of Latvia 93, Rēzekne, LV 4601, 2035. Latvia The survey «Global Economic Telephone +371 6462 Zones in the Future 2010/11» 5941 performed by the edition Mobile telephone +371 «Foreign Direct Investment» of 2863 3550 the British magazine «Finan- Fax +371 6462 5941 cial Times» awarded Rēzekne [email protected] Special Economic Zone the 6th place in the cost efficiency category. http://www.rsez.lv/index.php/ en/about-us http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/resources/documents/customs/procedural_aspects/imports/free_zones/ list_freezones.pdf And others. 6 WFZO Index cards - Latvia

Contacts

Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) 2 Perses Street, Riga, LV-1442, Latvia (Pērses iela 2, Rīga, LV-1442, Latvija) Phone: +371 67039400 Fax: +371 67039401 E-mail: [email protected] Edvīns Bogdanovs - Senior Specialist - Customer Service Division [email protected]

State Revenue Service National Customs Board Talejas iela 1, Rīga, LV-1978

Freeport of Riga Authority 12 Kalpaka blvd, Riga, Latvia, LV-1010 Phone: (+371) 67030800 Fax: (+371) 67030835 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.freeportofriga.lv

Freeport of Riga Harbour Master 5a Meldru Street, Riga, Latvia, LV-1015 Phone: (+371) 67082000, (+371) 67082035 Fax: (+371) 67322750 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.freeportofriga.lv

Freeport of Riga Authority Port Police 3C Meldru Street, Riga, Latvia, LV-1015 Phone: (+371) 67090704 Operational Control Division telephone: (+371) 67090777 Fax: (+371) 67090793 E-mail: [email protected]

Freeport of Ventspils authority Jana 19, Ventspils, LV-3601, Latvia Phone: (+371) 636 22586 Fax: (+371) 636 21297 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Liepaja Special Economic Zone Authority 4 Feniksa Street, Liepaja, LV-3401, Latvia Tel.: +371 63427605 Fax: +371 63480252 E-mail: [email protected]

Latvijas Investīciju un attīstības aģentūra Investment and Development Agency of Latvia Office: Perses iela 2, Riga, LV-1442, Latvia Edvīns Bogdanovs (Senior Specialist, Customer Service Division) Phone: +371 67039499 Fax: +371 67039401 Mobile phone: +371 26184085 E-mail: [email protected] www.liaa.gov.lv 7 WFZO Index cards - Latvia

Free Zones Web sites selection • http://www.liaa.gov.lv/contact-us/contacts • http://www.rop.lv/en/for-clients-a-investors/free-zone-regime.html • http://www.portofventspils.lv/ • http://www.rsez.lv/ • http://liepaja-sez.lv/en/contacts/liepaja-special-economic-zone-authority/liepaja-special-economic-zone-authority/ • http://likumi.lv/doc.php?id=33419 • http://www.portofventspils.lv/en/port-in-general/special-economic-zone