At an extraordinary meeting on April 30, the government supported the proposal of the Ministry of Finance to increase the municipal borrowing limit by 150 million euros in order to mitigate the negative economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was stipulated that the projects must be of high readiness, construction works must start by 31 December this year and be completed by 31 December 2021 at the latest, as well as meet other criteria.
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MEPRD was instructed to create a list of specific projects to be supported. Evaluating the requirements set for municipal projects – their technical readiness, financial criteria, supporting documents, etc. – MEPRD decided that a total of 88 project applications with a total funding of EUR 37,998,419 were eligible, but the loan available for the implementation of these projects was EUR 28,490,923.
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MEPRD acknowledged that 42 projects should be rejected for a total funding of 29,585,658 euros and a loan amount of 21,954,472 euros.
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A large part of the supported 88 municipal projects envisages the implementation of street repairs, construction of sidewalks, energy efficiency measures of educational institutions, etc.
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Of all the supported municipal projects, the largest financially large are in Riga, which plans to invest not only in improving the energy efficiency of educational institutions, but also in investing 755,298 euros in the development of Riga City video surveillance system and 1.57 million euros in street parking.
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Riga will also be able to borrow funds for the construction of several bicycle lanes. Thus, for example, 7.5 million euros are planned to be invested in the construction of a bicycle path from Imanta to Daugavgrīva, 2.12 million euros are planned to be invested in the construction of a bicycle path from the center to Ziepniekkalns, 1.39 million euros are planned to be spent on the Krasta Street bicycle path.
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The project of 1.09 million euros worth of Ogre municipality for the construction of a pedestrian and bicycle path was also supported, as well as the project of Babīte municipality worth 217,500 euros for the renewal of the Riga-Jūrmala cycle path in the territory of Babīte municipality.
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