In the construction of new apartments, Riga could soon begin to approach Vilnius and Tallinn

In the construction of new apartments, Riga could soon begin to catch up with Vilnius and Tallinn, which are still noticeably behind, Mareks Kļaviņš, the chairman of the board of the real estate developer “Bonava Latvija”, said in an interview to the LETA agency. “I think that Riga will gain momentum. In Estonia, for example, people’s hand is greater precisely in terms of the availability of financing. In Estonia, the influence of the shadow economy is much smaller, therefore, financing is available to a much larger circle of people. This is a factor that has pushed Tallinn forward , compared to Riga,” said Kļaviņš. He explained that after the previous crisis, market development in Latvia was slowed down by various alternative tax regimes, which prevented people from obtaining financing for the purchase of housing. During the past year, however, the situation has improved, reducing the number of Latvian residents working in the gray sector. “But this problem has not been completely eradicated – the pandemic highlighted this problem again: if you work in the gray sector, pay low taxes, then even in a crisis situation there is no support available. The country is moving in the right direction away from these alternative tax regimes, so I think that the situation will change with time will improve,” said Kļaviņš. Read the full article here.