The traffic of public transport on Deglava viaduct was resumed on May 4. The total additional expenses of “Rīgas satiksme” on providing public transport services in the period when the viaduct was fully closed amounted to EUR 53,000. It is expected that the customer will be asked to compensate these expenses when amending Riga city budget, because now these expenses fall within the limits of the requested funding.

The first week of May was full of events and works, as the preparation of documents about the current financial situation of the company was finished, investment plans were updated and a progress report on the implementation of the recommendations made by “Ernst&Young Baltic” was prepared. The documents submitted by law office “Evershed Shuterland Bitāns” (a package of documents on the corporate management and improvement of procurement procedures) and law office “Novius” (evaluation of responsibility of the Board) are in the process of evaluation.

Communication is maintained with “Škoda Transportation/Škoda Electric” to ensure the implementation of the reached agreement about solving disputes in May, which would enable the final settlement to be reached between the companies and the scheduled supplies of public transport to be continued. With the involvement of Z. Majer, the senior vice-president of “Škoda Transportation Group”, on May 6 and 9 “Rīgas satiksme” received answers to letters sent in mid-April. Although these answers cannot be seen as fully satisfactory, they are essential for preparing a meeting of experts due on May 15 and 16.

On May 8, the Board held a “technical meeting”, which was followed by a scheduled meeting with the Deputy Chairman of Riga City Council and holder of “Rīgas satiksme” shares, V. Baraņņiks. They discussed topical issues related to the financial situation of the company, amendments to investment plans, as well as scheduled meetings with the creditors. The Board presented its proposals concerning the optimization of the assortment of tickets. These proposals are not related to changes in ticket prices, yet they aim to make the offer of tickets more transparent and to reduce their maintenance costs. On Wednesday, the Board also met with the departments concerned to discuss solutions for the reconstruction of the terminal in Ziepniekkalns. It was decided to put on the agenda the question of building a new terminal and a park & ride parking lot in Līvciema Street, on the land plots owned by the company. The project can be only implemented with the support of Riga City Council’s Transport Department, because Līvciema Street needs to be reconstructed and extended.

On May 9, the Board held its longest meeting in the last two months, which had to consider more than 20 issues. As important issues shall be considered those related to the optimization of the Skanste tramline designing works, given the fact that the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFLA) decided to terminate the contract on the project funding. The Board decided to continue designing activities related to the development of project for stages 3, 4 and 5 of the tramline, as these stages provide for the renovation of the existing tramlines. At the same time, it must be mentioned that the decisions taken enable a rather quick relaunch of designing activities for stages 1 and 2 of the project, if there are objective preconditions for that. The Board listened to information provided by M. Vanags, chairman of the Board in association “Skanstes attīstības aģentūra”, and representatives of law office ZAB “Ellex Kļaviņs” about the juridical nature of the decisions taken by CFLA. The Board has taken note of this information before deciding on further strategy regarding the decision of CFLA to terminate the Skanste tramline funding agreement.

On May 10, Board members A.Krūze and J.Meirāns met representatives of “Latvijas mobilais telefons” to discuss several fields of potential cooperation, including mobile applications to make transport information available online. The parties agreed that in the nearest future they will define together the technical preconditions for providing transport information online and will evaluate the possibility of developing such an application as part of the indicator board pilot project.

Chairman of the Board Dr.iur. Ernests Saulītis signed on behalf of the company an agreement with audit company “Deloitte” on the audit of SIA “Rīgas karte”, which provides for a detailed analysis of the company’s financial and day-to-day operations. The audit is due to be completed at the end of May.

On May 10, the Board of “Rīgas satiksme” met representatives of AS “Citadele banka” in the company’s office at 35, Vestienas Street, to discuss issues related to the current work of the company and the possibilities of extending the issued overdraft (credit line). “Rīgas satiksme” Board member J. Švanders and acting Financial Director L. Hodasēviča informed about the financial situation of the company and cash flow schedule, which now shows only positive trends in the last five months. Representatives of AS “Citadele banka” informed about the preconditions that would enable the extension of the overdraft agreement to be considered. A positive decision of AS “Citadele banka” is significant for restoring confidence in “Rīgas satiksme”, and the parties agreed on the timetable of necessary measures.

The next week will start with a meeting with a group of creditors who are significant for the company’s development projects. The meeting will take place in the office of the acting chairman of Riga City Council, O. Burovs. It is planned that they will discuss a scope of questions related to the financial situation of “Rīgas satiksme”, the status of the already started project and restoring the company’s reputation.