Tatarstan plans to expand business cooperation with Latvia
Rustam Minnikhanov's working visit to Latvia showed that both sides are interested in a further cooperation. Tatarstan already exports oil products via Riga and other Latvian ports. Further deals may cover not only trade and logistics but also other sectors.
Tatarstan and Latvia intend to launch more joint projects, according to The Baltic Course. The Tatarstan's head met the Latvian Minister for Economics Arvils Aseradens and Minister for Transport Uldis Augulis in Riga on 6 October. The officials discussed the existing cooperation as well as the possibilities for future collaboration.
'Gaining access to the EU market from Russia is not easy. Therefore, Tatar businesses might consider an opening of a company in Latvia', said Rustam Minnikhanov. He also characterised the Riga port as modern and told that Tatar companies already use it to export oil products to other countries So, the port remains attractive despite Russia's intention to divert its cargos away from Latvian ports. 'Oil production in Tatarstan keeps growing and oil has to be transported somewhere, mostly to the EU member states. Riga port offers attractive prices, this is why we are interested in a further cooperation with Latvian ports', the President of Tatarstan said.
During the meeting with Minnikhanov, the Latvian Transport Minister Uldis Augulis said that Latvian ports are well-equipped and, for this reason, well-suited for handling exports of oil and oil products, chemicals, rubber and plastic products, metals, machinery, agricultural products and other goods exported by Tatarstan. He suggested that Tatar companies might be interested in investments in Latvia to create logistic and distribution centres and production plants in Latvian free ports and special economic zones: 'Latvia can offer several important advantages that potential investors might find interesting. For example, tax discounts in special economic zones and free ports, delivery of goods to customers in the Baltic region within 24 hours and in Scandinavia in 48 hours.'
Arvils Aseradens, in turn, stated that Latvian logistic companies are interested in expanding their cooperation with Tatarstan because of its growing oil production and industrial development. 'Also, Tatar companies can open production plants in Latvia to export their products to the EU markets', Aseradens said. Besides, he told that the presentation about Tatarstan's development that he saw earlier was inspiring and suggested vast opportunities for cooperation in finances, education, tourism, textile industry, etc.
Answering a question whether his visit to Riga could be a sign of stabilisation in Latvian-Russian relations, Minnikhanov said that business people keep sending signals that bilateral cooperation has economic gains regardless of the political matters at federal level. 'This is why we came to Latvia; we want both countries to have good relations so that we could cooperate on the regional level', the President of Tatarstan said.