More This year's winter has been so mild thus far that we can't enjoy the usual winter pleasures like skiing or skating in most parts of Latvia we can go hiking and visit attractions that might not usually be visible under the snow And nothing meets that description better than a sinkhole near Salaspils A landslide or karst collapse formed on the edge of the Zeltiņi bog in 2021 It damaged a forest road but created a potential tourist attraction in the process To the untutored eye it closely resembles a large hole in the ground "The Salaspils municipality has installed an information stand about the formation of the sinkhole It has enclosed the karst collapse with a wooden fence for safety purposes," says Jana Drēziņa tourism manager of the Salaspils municipality it is planned to install road signs to the sinkhole from Miera Street in Salaspils it is planned to turn the Zeltiņi swamp together with the entire territory of the karst fall into a nature park with walking trails and recreation areas "to make this place more accessible to tourists and nature activists who want to see this natural phenomenon," explains Drēziņa visitors will have to trek a short distance through the forest they can claim to be among the first to stare into the hole before the waves of tourists follow in future years. Who knows maybe one day there will be stands selling 'I saw the hole of Salaspils' T-shirts and other merchandise More seriously, visitors are reminded about safety They should not descend into the hole themselves or approach the sinkhole with vehicles as new sinkholes are also possible in the area This sinkhole has also grown significantly in size over the past three years and currently its diameter exceeds four meters Sinkholes are not uncommon in Latvian nature The most famous are on near Skaistkalne and in Allaži They are formed when water dissolves and washes away rocks causing a void to form underground and the surface of the earth to collapse Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor Data security and data availability are major challenges for the technology industry today That is why Tet will build a new data center in Salaspils with a focus on innovative technologies and cyber security solutions 70% of Tet's turnover comes from export markets where the company also services part of the country's critical infrastructure these complex cloud computing solutions involve a lot of computing power and the ability to scale offering a customer significantly more capacity in a short period of time and then scaling it back high capacity is usually associated with high power consumption and we will provide significantly more capacity in this data center than what we have historically offered in recent years Given that there is this large computing capacity we also need to cool these facilities more efficiently Rather than cooling the air in the entire data center we will be cooling the equipment in certain sectors using different cooling techniques," Grandans explained The innovative method planned to cool equipment is liquid cooling The heat will be transferred to the residents of Salaspils for consumption Member of the Board of Salaspils Heat and President of the Latvian Association of Heating Companies noted that the energy generated in cooperation with Tet will account for about 7% of the total heat consumption in Salaspils This will reduce the share of currently used wood chips or gas in the total consumption and will allow the area to keep the price stable and possibly reduce it a little Tet's total investment in the project is €30 million was also attended by several ministers including Finance Minister Arvils Ašeradens (New Unity) who pointed out that it is an important step in the development of data infrastructure and increases the value of the partly state-owned company "This is a very precise response to today's challenges - data data organization and the need for customers to be able to work with it successfully Export is the main thing that is happening So is investment [..]," said the Finance Minister Tet's new DC7 data center next to the Salaspils thermal power plant is scheduled to start construction this autumn in the person of Possessor Public Asset Manager Ltd ("Possessor") a subsidiary of the Swedish telecommunications company Telia Latvian telco Tet is to build a new data center outside Riga the company announced plans to invest €30 million ($33.2m) in developing the facility in Salaspils Specifications of the facility weren’t shared but construction on the new data center is planned to start at the end of 2024 for a 2028 completion The project will be managed by Tet's construction subsidiary Citrus Solutions said: “This data center will be an important step towards the development of new services and the promotion of Latvia's digital export capacity In close cooperation with Salaspils municipality and private sector companies we will be able to offer the latest generation technology solutions The new data center will be an excellent result of the work of a team of professionals which will help to strengthen the competitiveness of both the company and Latvia in the international market.” The waste heat from the facility will be used within a district heating scheme operated by Salaspils Siltums. LSM said the site will utilize liquid cooling The new project in Salaspils will be Tet's seventh data center offering colocation services as well as cloud services through Tet Cloud The company currently has the capacity for just over 500 racks across its existing footprint chairman of the Salaspils County municipal council said: “The project has both practical significance – it will provide an opportunity to obtain additional thermal energy for the needs of the residents and great symbolic significance – we see Salaspils as an ecologically clean innovative and smart county in the future.” Tet (formerly Lattelekom and Lattelecom) is majority-owned by the Latvian government with Telia owning the remaining 49 percent Data Centre Dynamics Ltd (DCD), 32-38 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH Email. [email protected]DCD is a subsidiary of InfraXmedia the material palette is selected for low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and the absence of toxic ingredients MADE arhitekti conceived the kindergarten to meet the growing demand for educational facilities in Salaspils where many families reside while commuting to Riga for work and study The building accommodates twelve classes grouped in pairs with each of the two groups having its own entrance and hall to ensure smooth daily logistics during drop-off and pick-up times The entrances are marked by three corrugated metal ‘houses’ that provide the facility with a playful visual identity Adaptability too is a core feature that the architects devised the design concept round While the building currently functions as a kindergarten the layout allows for it to be repurposed as a primary school in the future an open ‘living room’ becomes a versatile communal area Adjacent facilities — including a music room — can integrate with this core or remain separated supported by a connected hall and amphitheater MADE arhitekti completes Salaspils Timber Kindergarten The team at MADE arhitekti notes that constructing the two-level timber building required navigating Latvia’s building code which currently lacks alignment with progressive climate goals The architects successfully negotiated deviations from the code obtaining approval from the State Fire and Rescue Service’s technical commission also played a pivotal role in facilitating these adaptations enabling the kindergarten to achieve Passive House certification from Germany’s Passive House Institute the first public Passive House building in the Baltic States the structure employs load-bearing wooden elements and toxin-free materials envisioned to cater to Salaspils’ growing population of young families the design offers adaptability to future educational needs the building accommodates twelve classes grouped in pairs with the option to connect to adjacent spaces name: Salaspils Timber Kindergarten architect: MADE arhitekti | @madearhitekti designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here. AXOR presents three bathroom concepts that are not merely places of function but destinations in themselves — sanctuaries of style Four information meetings have been held with the residents of the municipality to explain the objectives of the project fearing the impact on their health and also the fall in property values.  Representatives of the company "Gren" were strongly reproached during the meetings with the residents The company's representatives said they had counted on such opposition and planned to convince the public of the need for the project together with the opinions of the State Environmental Monitoring Office said: "We plan to use 200 thousand tonnes of fuel derived from waste or low-quality biomass This has environmental benefits - we reduce the volume of waste in the landfill which in this case are the residents of Riga city and the companies that receive district heating." The company plans to submit an application to the State Environmental Monitoring Bureau in the next few weeks The head of Gren Latvija noted that the issues that will be discussed in the Parliament what we have in the long term - all these issues will be discussed again we will not make the decision to build or not to build and the bureau will be the body that will take into account our information residents from both Salaspils and Ropazi have already expressed their rejection by collecting signatures against the project and they are justified - both in terms of health but also in terms of real estate - the value of which will of course fall." which will be burned in the houses next to us outside our windows." The project will cost a total of €200 million In order to promote waste sorting in Latvia and thus also to accelerate the achievement of the European Union’s 2025 targets a company of the largest environmental resource management group in the Baltics will invest EUR 11.7 million in the construction of a sorting plant for unsorted municipal and separately collected waste in Acone with a total capacity of 45,000 tonnes per year The new plant will be able to sort 20,000 tonnes of municipal waste and 25,000 tonnes of sorted waste annually (for comparison the current sorting capacity of Eco Baltia vide’s plant at Getliņu iela 5 for secondary materials is around 18,000 tonnes per year) The plant is planned to occupy a 4,000 square metre site including a 3,385 square metre building and 700 square metre of sheds The new plant will employ around 70 people The plant is expected to open in autumn 2024 The new plant will have a multi-stage optical sorting system with the ability to change both the types of materials to be sorted and the quality control during the sorting process to remove contaminants from the optically separated stream or “The main objective of the project and the biggest benefit from a business perspective is efficiency – significant savings in landfill waste it will be able to sort both municipal and separately collected waste but will not use intensive shredding and wind tunnels instead focusing on adaptive equipment and optical sorting This will save energy and recover as much recycled material as possible,” says Jānis Aizbalts Unsorted municipal waste will be delivered to the plant from Eco Baltia vide’s Pierīga Region while sorted waste will be delivered from Riga and Pierīga Sorting will be largely automated: in the first stage large and non-compliant items such as household appliances while the rest will be sent to automated machines that sort waste of certain sizes manual quality control is carried out to ensure a higher value of recyclable materials The plant project builds on seven years of experience at the Eco Baltia vide plant in Liepāja Ideas have also been drawn from similar plants in Poland J.Aizbalts: “These are solutions that make it possible to separate as much glass and metal as possible which by weight is the largest fraction of recyclable materials in municipal waste We have brought together all the best technical solutions in one plant to make the sorting process as efficient and safe as possible and it will be an important support for the European Union’s 2025 recycling targets for plastic packaging waste.” Latvia generates more than 800,000 tonnes of municipal waste each year of which approximately 50% is sorted and recycled The European Union has set strict waste reduction targets for its member states including a sharp increase in recycling rates – up to 65% of total waste by 2035 the European Commission report points out that Latvia is at risk of missing a number of 2025 targets Latvia already has to pay the EU a plastic tax of around €16-20 million per year for the amount of plastic it does not recycle In order to further streamline the management and structure of  JSC (AS) Eco Baltia and to improve the range and quality of services to customers the road maintenance company LLC (SIA) Pilsētas Eko Serviss has […] The environmental management company Eco Baltia vide LTD (SIA) closed last year with a turnover of EUR 49.32 million The increase in turnover was mainly driven by the […] With the growing concerns over the impact of fast fashion and the fashion industry on the environment has been created in one of the central parks of Latvia’s capital Environmental management company Eco Baltia vide’s subsidiary in Lithuania has invested 700 000 EUR in a new and the first-of-its-kind construction waste sorting line in Lithuania This will ensure that an even larger amount of […] In order for this website to work it uses strictly necessary cookies With your permission this site may use additional analytics and marketing cookies says the company has invested almost €12 million in the new plant with a planned sorting capacity of 45,000 tonnes per year with two separate sites receiving unsorted municipal waste from the Rīga region as well as sorted light packaging waste from both Rīga and its vicinity "Here you can see that everything goes through manual sorting first biggest pieces that don't fit - hazardous waste batteries or something else - are removed so that there are no further fire risks then there's manual inspection again to check the quality," explains Aizbalts the plan is to work five days a week in partial shifts The plant will employ around 50 people in total but most of the sorting is done by a multi-stage optical sorting machine with the ability to change both material types and quality control in the process as well as to select only the useful material if the stream is too dirty The new plant is also linked to the European Commission's requirement that only 10% of waste can be landfilled in 10 years' time 200,000 tonnes of waste were disposed of at the Getliņi landfill says Ričards Aksels Ozoliņš the amount of unsorted municipal waste accepted at Getliņi was 300,000 tonnes Considering that the population in Riga and the Baltic region has not decreased But as far as meeting the targets is concerned We see that the amount of unsorted municipal waste in Getliņi is decreasing The same applies to the amount of waste being disposed of But we would like to see these dynamics accelerate so we need to increase recycling capacity," Ozoliņš stresses There are still 10 years to meet the European targets but it has to go hand in hand with us changing our daily habits and focusing on sorting," Ozoliņš adds Taking part in the festival will be the National Armed Forces Headquarters Orchestra and Chamber Ensembles of the National Armed Forces Orchestra as well as special guests from abroad including the Estonian Defense League big band (Kaitseliidu Big Band) and the rock group "Touch 'N Go" of the orchestra of the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) The festival is taking place for the third year and various chamber ensembles of the National Armed Forces Orchestra will play music in the concert venue there is great satisfaction both in the work of the National Armed Forces Orchestra during the year since the previous festival and also for our guests at this year's festival - our sisters and brothers from Estonia and our great allies from the United States of America who are already visiting Latvia for the second time this year," said Major Andis Karelis chief conductor of the National Armed Forces and the artistic director of the "Power of Music" festival The festival "Power of Music 2024" is organized by the leadership of the National Armed Forces Orchestra in cooperation with the municipality of Salaspils region Full details: https://www.salaspilskultura.lv/event/muzikas-speks-2024/ where an as yet unidentified minor girl had been hit on the railway tracks The police are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the incident Train traffic has been restored at the scene The accident caused delays to trains in the Aizkraukle direction on Tuesday Take note – story published 1 year and 10 months ago The information provided by the State Police on Twitter shows that a civilian trailer with a military fuel tank was on fire on the A6 highway in Salaspille Operational services work at the site of the event Around 19:00 the traffic was partially restored in both directions traffic movements in both directions have been completely closed on the highway Rescuers pointed out that their work was hampered by the large number of spectators; these people also endanger themselves Residents of surrounding houses are advised to close their windows and doors so that smoke from the event does not enter the rooms Take note – story published 1 year and 3 months ago Botania is one of few green things seen in Salaspils in the snowy winter One of the goals of this center is to break the notion of botanics -- it's not dry science it can be exciting and exploratory at any age “At first we end up in the underground realm where all the quirky things underground are that we never see,” said Dace Miezīte Photo: Ivans Milovs/LTVPhoto: Ivans Milovs/LTVPhoto: Ivans Milovs/LTVPhoto: Ivans Milovs/LTVPhoto: Ivans Milovs/LTVPhoto: Ivans Milovs/LTVPhoto: Zanda Ozola - Balode/LTVPhoto: Latvijas Televīzija added: “I very much hope that here through the little things we will learn about the great things and learn through knowledge and plant microparts and processes to understand the global importance of nature.” added that “we want to be a space where natural and environmental industry specialists meet a networking place to talk about the current environmental and nature issues.” It is not only natural and environmental professionals who are invited but also families with children and school classes The content of Botania includes more than one hundred herbal themes It is planned that the tour at the environmental education Center could be an aid to biology teachers – as part of the curriculum The construction and equipment of the center lasted five years and cost under €3 million Visitors will have access to the center in a few weeks – starting on February 1.  Take note – story published 7 years and 2 months ago whose concrete structures have been restored for the first time in half a century have also undergone tremendous transformations The heavy grating door leads to the memorial more than a hundred meters long inside the entrance gallery. On its outer walls - the familiar inscription "Behind these gates is only the earth" but what were previously only empty walls are now complemented by a concentrated message about the history of the Salaspils camp The tragic story of Salaspils camp is now "highlighted and easier to see" says museum director Zigmars Gailis The first floor exposition tells about the history of the formation of the camp and about the various prisoners' groups passing through Salaspils camp from 1941 to 1944. "Throughout the exposition there are glass stands with different prisoners' stories memories of their time at the Salaspils camp," says Gailis when the Latvian Radio visited the Salaspils Memorial to mark 50 years since its establishment are on the second floor gallery. The gray concrete walls are complemented by a timeline story about the creation of a memorial itself overlooking the monumental concrete sculptures of the Salaspils Memorial the symbolic explanation of each sculpture and the context of the time of its creation can also be read. At the end of the gallery there is a symbolic camp barracks a bit away from the memorial - a glass plate with the former location of the Nazi camp "The work was quite major in both the repairs and the exposition parts. But the result so organically integrated into the existing ensemble that a lot of things slip past the simple eye of the observer," says the director of the museum The restoration work was led by architect Līga Gaile, but the new exposition is based on the definitive study of historian Uldis Neiburgs and his colleagues who worked on uncovering the history of Salaspils camp for more than a decade. You can read about his groundbreaking work in a previous LSM story HERE The Salaspils camp is a painful but important opportunity to explain the history of Latvia in the 20th century in an international context as both Latvian Jews and political prisoners plus prisoners from different countries came to and through this camp and I think it will be very important for the future so that the memorial fulfills the function of helping us better understand the various issues of history rather than simply opposing different groups of society to each other," says Neiburgs The exhibition is open to visitors from 10:00 to 15:00 in winter and 10:00 to 17:00 in summer. Details of its location and surrounding area can be viewed HERE Take note – story published 3 years and 2 months ago Symbolizing the threshold between life and death a hollow concrete wall that houses an exhibition stretches for some 100 meters at the memorial entrance The Salaspils camp was set up there by the Nazis in the Second World War and six monumental sculptures in concrete are standing there now which lies some twenty kilometers southeast from Rīga They were put to work in constructing “an extended police prison” and a “labor correctional camp” enslaved laborers and children of the repressed and the murdered For most of the people who ended up there Salaspils was but an intermediary station before they were sent to other concentration and death camps There is little left of the former camp at the place The concrete constructions of the 1967-built memorial mark the locations of the barracks and the executions A metronome shoots through the silence on the location For more on the history of the place and the memorial, see this feature from our archives Take note – story published 7 years and 9 months ago Fifty years after its construction in 1967 the museum of the formidable Salaspils memorial building for the prisoners of the former Nazi camp will be repaired for €300,000 Restoration works are to be finished by year-end and will encompass only the 115-meter-long museum building.  it's planned to refurbish the whole memorial that includes striking brutalist sculptures and furnish it with cameras During the reconstruction visitors to the secluded and eerie place can expect limitations.  The works will be carried out by Būvuzņēmums Restaurators.  that the restoration of the memorial ensemble has been the subject of controversy with the Russian embassy offering funds to restore it in the mid-2000s with the monument inspectorate delaying the agreement and Russia withdrawing its offer in April 2005 Read more about the Salaspils memorial ensemble on Latvia's official travel bulletin.  Take note – story published 7 years and 6 months ago a metronome has been ticking away non-stop at the Memorial Ensemble near Salaspils with the sound of heartbeats thundering throughout the secluded eerie field that was the site of a Nazi camp from 1941 to 1945 It is turning 50 years of age on October 31 and it's finally being restored for the first time worth €300,000 are to be finished by year-end and will encompass only the 115-meter museum building narrow construction the shape of an oblong in the place where a barbed wire fence once stood to keep prisoners from escaping.  says it'll be the first time it's renewed since 1967 She says it'll be simply gentle refurbishment without altering the character of the place "It has aged gracefully for the last fifty years. But there'll be some novelties as well," she tells Latvian Radio The novelties she's referring to is a new exhibition dedicated to the history of the former Nazi camp and of the memorial itself It will be based on decade-long research by a team of historians lead by Uldis Neiburgs.  The Salaspils Memorial was built to commemorate the atrocities carried out by the Nazis at the camp; the scale of these atrocities was however amplified by Soviet propaganda In 1959 a competition was launched to create the memorial a time when the Soviet Union launched a massive campaign of building military cemeteries and memorials The Soviets stressed the war crimes of Nazi Germany but remained silent about their own.  A team of artists was eventually completed and some were invited from outside the competition.  He said that he came up with the sloped construction - one of the most impressive details of the memorial - at home as he was raising a concrete beam using a lever For seven years a team of artists exchanged their ideas fighting for how they thought the memorial should look Only seven of the initial 20 artists saw the project through to its end - architects Gunārs Asaris Oļegs Zakamennijs and sculptors Ļevs Bukovskis Oļegs Skarainis un Jānis Zariņš.  Oļegs Skarainis is one of the two surviving people of the seven artists He talks slowly but gladly remembers the years he spent working on the Art Brute sculptures he worked on "They had [similar memorials] elsewhere in Europe we were up to date with the developments," he says During the competition the artists had visited the site and decided that it should work with the concepts of land and way (zeme and ceļš).  he says the rough-edged concrete sculptures could have been more uneven This memorial is meant to remind people not to repeat their wars and the stupidities they do So that it may never happen again," he says Photo: Foto: Māra Rozenberga/Latvijas RadioPhoto: Foto: Māra Rozenberga/Latvijas RadioPhoto: Foto: Latvijas RadioPhoto: Foto: Māra Rozenberga/Latvijas Radio The memorial has since been included in the Lativan Culture Canon the architect Kristīne Budže praises the memorial as a modern complex "The Salaspils memorial stretching for 25 hectares is one of the largest memorials in Europe and a vivid example of late 1960s Brutalist architecture." The Salaspils camp has been variously described as a death camp titled Behind These Gates The Earth Moans and co-authored by Kārlis Kangeris and Uldis Neiburgs It purports to give an account of events at Salaspils based on historical evidence rather than questionable facts circulated during the Soviet era including a startling conclusion that around 2,000 people met their deaths at the camp rather than the figure of up to 100,000 sometimes claimed in the past between 21,855 and 23,035 people were imprisoned in Salaspils camp At any one time around 1,800-2,200 people were interned there and approximately 2,000 inhabitants of Salaspils camp died or were executed in the period from May 1942 until September 1944 when the camp was active brutal and inhumane living and working conditions in the Salaspils camp differed little from concentration camps in Nazi Germany.. the actual number of prisoners and deaths is vastly different from the numbers mentioned in Soviet historiography but this fact does not minimize or relativize the responsibility and guilt of the Nazi regime and any local collaborators," said a handout at the launch event for the book Take note – story published 4 years and 6 months ago The competition will take place in two stages the selection of candidates will take place the second being the submission and evaluation of candidates' tenders The competition calls for experienced designers: the candidate must have professional experience in: In order for this project to run more smoothly and the potential winner of the competition to be able to get to work immediately the construction plan documentation is currently being prepared It is carried out by an association consisting of Egis Rail, DB Engineering & Consulting and Olimps Rigas, according to Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas. Time limit for the submission of tenders for the first stage of the competition: 20 November 2020 Duration of the contract - 27 calendar months from the date of entry into force of the contract Term of authorship - until the commissioning of the construction The procurement contract is co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) Take note – story published 10 years and 4 months ago Officials confirmed Tuesday that a small amount of radioactive tritium had leaked from an outdated research reactor under the care of the University of Latvia (LU) A small leak was discovered in a water tank resulting in slightly increased levels of tritium in the immediate vicinity LU's Vice-Rector for Science Indrikis Muižnieks told the BNS newswire Radioactive water had percolated through a stainless steel tank, Muižnieks said The tank has been inserted into a concrete cask and a small amount of water entered the environment "Thanks to God and the wisdom of professionals that work was initiated in a timely manner and has not reached dangerous levels of radioactive contamination," he said A longer delay in inspections could have led to a larger leak explaining that the tank would be welded shut again In 2008 spent fuel from the Salaspils nuclear reactor was exported to Russia but work on dismantling the Soviet-era facility continues and is due to be completed in 2015 Take note – story published 9 years and 3 months ago International Holocaust Memorial day was marked with a series events across Latvia Wednesday including the launch of a new book that attempts to give an accurate account of the Salaspils camp near Riga titled Behind These Gates The Earth Moans was launched Wednesday afternoon at the Latvian War Museum in central Riga the speaker of the Latvian parliament and acting President due to the illness of President Raimonds Vejonis "The story of the Salaspils concentration camp overwrites the myths currently actively propagated against the state of Latvia." "Historical truth has become increasingly important today when history has become a theater of war for international politics when our neighboring country is attempting to exonerate crimes perpetrated by the Soviet totalitarian regime and ignore inconvenient truths," Murniece said The book gives an account of events at Salaspils based on historical evidence rather than questionable facts circulated during the Soviet era told LSM about how he had conducted his research and come up with findings that are likely to be controversial in some quarters "We should also remember that Salaspils was not the largest camp on Latvian territory," Kangeris said while noting that it had been employed far more in Soviet propaganda campaigns than others such as the Mezaparks camp which was five times bigger Kangeris insisted his approach was based on logic A message was also read out from Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma who said: "I am convinced that this comprehensive study will help lay to rest and eradicate the lies and myths that were created during the Soviet occupation and which are still being distributed and multiplied by those who do not value the truth There is a power in the truth that cannot be held back or held down "We note and regret that the world is not free of the scourge of genocide The acts of aggression and seizure of foreign lands still take place without regard to lessons of the past," Straujuma said Also at the book launch was Valdis Berzins of the US-based Latvian Foundation which contributed towards the costs of the project He told LSM why the new history had won the organization's backing but this fact does not minimize or relativize the responsibility and guilt of the Nazi regime and any local collaborators," said a handout at the launch event In the Latvian Clubs Championship 2021/2022 the Men’s Top League champions laurels had won by Rēzekne BJSS 1and Salaspils GTK team is crowned champions in the Women’s Top League On April in the mood of the Easter holiday in Salaspils Sports House ended the Latvian Teams Table Tennis Championship 2021/2022 In the final stage – all six leagues took part in the Finals The best teams were awarded with medals and cups The Salaspils GTK team was crowned as the champions in the Women’s Top League beating the Jekabpils SC team 4:1 in the final whilst in the game for the 3rd place the Latvian RTU team won the Kuldiga SS team 4:2 In the Men’s Top League the laurels of the champions were won by Rezekne BJSS 1 In the final Rezekne BJSS 1was superior to the Saldus NP team 4:2 but in the game for the 3rd place GTK Namejs-Baltais team won the RTU team 4:0 Competition photos Competition Videos – Men’s Top League Final – Rezekne BJSS 1 vs Saldus NP. Women’s Top League: https://lgtf.lv/#/competition-results/5414 Men’s Top League: https://lgtf.lv/#/competition-results/5121 The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe and is the only authority recognized for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation The ETTU deals with all matters relating to table tennis at a European level including the development and promotion of the sport in the territories controlled by its 58 member associations and the organization of continental table tennis competitions RIGA - Budget funds that had been allocated for the planned decommissioning of a Soviet-era nuclear reactor in Salaspils near Riga have been spent on purposes unrelated to the decommissioning activities a 2018 report released by the State Audit Office shows Although the decommissioning of the Salaspils nuke was supposed to begin already in 2015 and be completed in five years’ time which has increased the risk of radioactive pollution In the Environmental Protection and Regional Development Ministry’s 2018 budget EUR 3.3 million had been earmarked for the reactor’s decommissioning works this funding was allocated to the decommissioning project as a new policy initiative and urgent activity the project has been postponed and 84 percent of the funding has been spent elsewhere on needs not related to the reactor’s closure digitalization and publication of KGB archives renovation of the ministry’s buildings and other needs EUR 724,000 worth of decommissioning funding that was earmarked for 2019 and 2020 was also reallocated for other needs already in 2018 Since the decommissioning of the Salaspils reactor still was not launched in 2018 additional EUR 150,000 have to be spent annually on the structure’s safe maintenance the risk of radioactive pollution has increased and the costs of the reactor’s decommission have risen as well Salaspils nuclear reactor is located at 31 Miera Street in Salaspils - a group of buildings and facilities The total area of the site is 4.2 hectares Geology and Meteorology Center is the operator of the complex The IRT-type nuclear reactor was first launched in September 1961 A subscription to The Baltic Times is a cost-effective way of staying in touch with the latest Baltic news and views enabling you full access from anywhere with an Internet connection. Subscribe Now! 2025 © The Baltic Times /Cookies Policy Privacy Policy Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma is to attend a commemoration ceremony at the sight of a notorious Nazi-run concentration camp on the outskirts of Riga being the day the Western Allies mark Victory in Europe day Russia marks the victory over Nazi Germany a day later on May 9 where in Riga tens of thousands of Latvian Russians are expected to attend celebrations.  "Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma and the management of the Salaspils city call for participation in the commemorative event at the Salaspils Memorial to commemorate those  who were imprisoned or tortured in this camp during World War II," the Prime Minister's office said of the event "dedicated to the defeat of Nazism and to commemorate the victims of World War II." it is important to remember and not to permit crimes of the war and totalitarian regimes We need an objective story about the Salaspils camp It is our duty towards next generations," Straujuma said The event will be attended by the representatives of ministries Flowers will be laid during the commemorative event and the pupils from Salaspils will read extracts from memories of eyewitnesses The visit will take place just two weeks after Straujuma visited another Nazi concentration camp in France alongside French President Francois Hollande More detailed information about the horrific crimes perpetrated at Salaspils camp, sometimes with the collaboration of locals, can be read here Details of the contrasting attitudes to May 8 and May 9 can be read here The left turns have been preserved in a few junctions with low traffic intensity LVC asks that drivers follow the changes and observe traffic rules.  Traffic will further be directed toward the two-level junctions of A5 and A9 LVC said that left turns are one of the most dangerous maneuvers in traffic and they are especially dangerous on a major road like Rīga bypass Traffic intensity on the road A5 between the Jelgava highway A8 and Liepāja highway A9 is more than 14,000 vehicles in 24 hours This road section has seen over 65 road accidents with 70 injured and three deaths over the past six years the Rail Baltica railway line could be used to evacuate up to 100,000 people per day according to a presentation by the Ministry of Transport (MoT) delivered Wednesday at a meeting of the Saeima’s Defence The presentation noted that the capital costs for the first stage of the cross-border connection—from the Poland–Lithuania border to Tallinn/Muuga—would total €15.3 billion across the three Baltic States the first phase includes the mainline from the Lithuania–Latvia border to the Latvia–Estonia border This phase also includes the completion of the Riga Airport terminal the southern section of Riga Central Station and the construction of freight loading/unloading points in Iecava and Salaspils for military mobility purposes Rail Baltica would have the capacity to evacuate up to 98,000 civilians per day and transport up to 55,000 tons of cargo per day Director of the Rail Baltica Project Department at the MoT explained that a ramp for unloading military cargo is planned at the Iecava terminal—this would be the first unloading point for trains arriving from Poland the cargo could be transported to its final destination a full-scale logistics terminal is planned since Salaspils is located beyond the Daugava River current EU funding only covers the section from the Lithuanian border to the Daugava Additional financing sources must be found to extend the line further Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that military mobility has been a key requirement of the defense sector since the project’s conception to ensure the transport of armored equipment Director of the MoD’s Crisis Management and Resilience Department stated that the Salaspils logistics hub is a critical element from the perspective of military mobility “We must ensure rapid military cargo handling within Latvia We don’t want to solve a bottleneck at the Suwałki Corridor only to have everything stop in Latvia due to lack of capacity This is what our allies are most concerned about,” he emphasized Mikiško added that NATO planning currently relies on the existing infrastructure and capacity and we are discussing the development status of the project with our NATO counterparts,” he added Head of Logistics Planning at the Joint Headquarters of the National Armed Forces (NAF) confirmed that Rail Baltica is included in Latvia’s national defense plans Latvia is defined as a host nation for allied forces in both the National Defense Plan and the Operational Defense Plan which stipulate that NATO must be able to respond quickly in the event of a threat or invasion by Russia the timeline for the arrival of allied forces is a critical factor We have a general understanding of how much time we have from initial threat indicators and all transport modes will be utilized,” Masaļskis explained He added that completing Rail Baltica would reduce the risk of delays in the arrival of allied forces—not only in Latvia but across the entire Baltic defense zone both the NAF and NATO base their current planning on existing infrastructure LETA reported that the MoD’s draft National Defense Concept emphasized the need to adapt Rail Baltica for military use including a proposed branch line to the Ādaži military base MoT officials confirmed that no such branch lines are planned in the first phase either to Ādaži or the Selonia military training ground Rail Baltica aims to build a European-gauge railway line from Tallinn to the Lithuania–Poland border enabling the Baltic States to connect by rail to the rest of Europe The project envisions an 870-kilometer-long line with 1,435 mm gaugeand a maximum train speed of 240 km/h risks surrounding the project’s construction continue to grow and the current funding model is no longer sustainable according to the Fiscal Discipline Council’s oversight report on the Ministry of Finance’s Fiscal Structural Plan for 2025–2028 Also read: Rushed decision, double costs, and formal oversight – State Audit Office reveals problems in “militarized sculpture composition” project Follow us on Facebook and X — The Eastman School of Music honored Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday with a concert at Kilbourn Hall The 10th annual concert featured music written by those died or survived the holocaust It also featured the world premiere of Claire Polin’s “Salaspils” for piano and voice written after the composer’s 1981 visit to Salaspils the largest civilian concentration camp in the Baltic states during World War II Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed worldwide Any person with disabilities who needs help accessing the content of the FCC Public file should contact Richard Reingold at rreingold@whec.com or 585-546-1701