Due to the rising costs of electricity and fuel, the Baltic region suffers and will suffer the most, thus competitiveness in the region will decrease, informs Toms Didrihsons, chairman of the board of SIA “Orkla Latvija”.
He also emphasizes that this situation is very serious in the medium and long term, stating that a clear vision and plan of the government and the relevant ministries is needed, how the upcoming problems will be solved together with entrepreneurs.
“Currently, we have not heard anything concrete, and no one has asked our opinion either, despite the fact that we are one of the largest food producers, exporters and tax payers in the country,” says Didrichson.
In response to the question of how “Orkla Latvija” plans to survive the increase in electricity and fuel prices, the chairman of the board commented that they have already accumulated as much as possible and taken it on their shoulders, but there are no other options but to transfer it to the final product and raise prices.
On the other hand, when answering the question whether the government has planned any support for companies in the energy sector, Didrichsons states that he sees that some support is also planned for companies.
“This is to be welcomed, because at least short-term help is promised to reduce the impact of the rapid increase in the cost of energy resources on producers. This support applies more to the first half of this year and partly to the second, but further plans for the upcoming winter and the following years are unknown, and that’s a concern,” comments Diedrichson.
On the other hand, “Gasso” plays out the onset of the energy crisis in Latvia, where supplies to manufacturers can be reduced by up to 40%, Diedrihsons notes, adding that this is worrying, because reducing production capacity by 40% means far-reaching consequences for product availability, employment and the survival of companies.
It has already been announced that the “Orkla Latvija” concern worked with a turnover of 104.26 million euros and a profit of 4.594 million euros in 2020. The financial results of the concern for 2021 have not yet been made public.
“Orkla Latvija” was registered in 2009, and its share capital is eight million euros. In Latvia, “Orkla” represents and develops “Laima”, “Selga”, “Staburadze”, “Ādažu Chipsi”, “Pedro”, “Spilva”, “Gutta”, “Latplanta” and other brands. The company is part of the Norwegian concern “Orkla”.
“Gaso” is a subsidiary of AS “Latvijas gāze”. The company is the only natural gas distribution system operator in Latvia. The company provides security of natural gas networks, technical services and accounting of natural gas consumption. “Gasso” started operating in December 2017.
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