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Photo: Raimonds Volonts (Latvian Rally Championship)
The upcoming stage of the FIA World Rally Championship this year and the final round of the 2025 Men’s European Basketball Championship as the first official major events confirm the potential of the Latvian sports industry to be at the forefront of major international events, emphasizes Minister of Economy Viktors Valainis.
The minister also admits: “And this is not just about sport, but also about the economy.” The organization of large international events attracts domestic and foreign visitors, contributes to the development of local infrastructure and economic growth, and also creates Jobs in the directly related areas – hotels, restaurants, retail, transport as well as in the related goods and services sectors. In addition, these measures are tax-neutral, meaning that the expected increase in VAT collected in the state budget is greater than the amount of state funding intended for this purpose.”
On January 23, the Cabinet of Ministers examined the informative report on the provision of financial resources for large and important events prepared by the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance. A major event is an international event that takes place in Latvia and is organized or delegated by a global or European organization or whose cooperation partner is a global or European organization. The event is widely reported in the media and has a significant impact on Latvia’s economy (international recognition and competitiveness, etc.), as it also attracts at least 10,000 overnight stays of foreign visitors and participants staying in Latvian tourist accommodation. The duration of the event must be at least two or more days.
The funding of major events is intended as a funding program with state co-financing of up to 90% of the calculated VAT income from foreign visitors. MK. This was also decided at the meeting on January 23rd Providing support for the first two major events – for organizing the stage of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2024 and for organizing the final round of the 2025 Men’s European Basketball Championship in Latvia. 2.55 million euros are earmarked for organizing the rally championship and 9.95 million euros for the basketball final tournament.
Roland Peterson
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