Investors with total potential investments of €1.9 billion in 40 and more projects and innovation are currently interested in Latvia, reported Kaspars Rožkalns, Director-General of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA).

One of the largest investors entering Latvia would be the Italian company Marcegaglia, which has bought a controlling interest in the sanctioned Severstal Distribution. The Ministry of Economics of Latvia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the representation of Latvia in Italy, were involved in the organization of this transaction.

“The total amount of the transaction is not disclosed, but it is known that it is planned to create 300 new jobs in 2025 and the turnover will reach €300 million”, said the head of the LIAA.

The second well-known new investor in Latvia this year is the international pharmaceutical and biotech company Roche, which plans to open its business center in Latvia, with about 200 new jobs planned in the next 4-5 years. The rationale for setting up the new location in Riga is the continued high demand for talent in various areas of expertise.

In addition, the territory of the former steelworks plant Liepājas Metalurgs will be transformed into a street network. The future of Liepājas Metalurgs is planned to be the same as the naval port Karosta Industrial Park, “where, by arranging a degraded area, investing in infrastructure – in the streets with communications, an environment is created for companies to build their own factories”, said Uldis Hmieļevskis, manager of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Liepāja.

Although it is still unclear at the moment when exactly and what action will be taken by the Turkish investor who purchased some of the properties and electric steel furnaces belonging to Metalurgs, the city, and SEZ have already developed an area plan.

“We have marked this place as a green and modern industrial park. [..] A great deal of work has been done in order to be able to implement it. On December 29 last year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development approved the local planning of the former “Metalurgs” plant. On this basis, a new street network is being projected, and technical projects are being developed that will be submitted for funding and park development. This will be a very serious driver of the economic development of the Liepāja region”, Hmieļevskis said.