At the end of 2021, one of the leading Spanish newspapers, El Mundo produced a special supplement celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Latvia.
At the end of 2021, one of the leading Spanish newspapers, El Mundo produced a special supplement celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Spain and the Republic of Latvia.
The supplement introduces Spanish readers with the current economic and political developments in Latvia. Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš and Rietumu Council Chairman Leonid Esterkin comment, among other things, on the current economic issues in the country.
Krišjānis Kariņš, in particular, said that one of the most important achievements of his government was complete modernization and rehabilitation of Latvia’s financial system. “We have carried out major organizational changes, new professionals have been appointed to the key positions, and now we are in the process of merging the financial supervision system with the central bank,” said the head of the Latvian government.
Leonid Esterkin also said that, for a number of years, a fundamental reform of the Latvian banking sector was high on Latvia’s political agenda, and this reform had now been successfully completed and the country had a transformed and strong financial system. Mr. Esterkin went on to say that Latvia must act quickly in the future to win the competition. “We cannot just sit back and keep saying that we are a small country or that we do not have a strong economy. Some people may think that we are not able to carry out major projects, and yet we do that. We have always had and still have strong competitors, and in order to survive, we had to look for out-of-the-box solutions that lead to success. So far it has always worked.”
Commenting on the history of the development of Rietumu Bank, which was founded the same year when Latvia regained independence, the bank’s founder emphasized the bank’s ability to successfully operate in constantly changing external circumstances: “We should not limit ourselves to a particular type of operation as our bank is relatively small and at the same time flexible. We are able to quickly adapt and find the best solutions. In our line of business, transformation is just natural.” At present, Rietumu’s strategy is focused primarily on lending: the bank finances large-scale projects in the development of commercial and residential real estate, manufacturing, transport, as well as fintech startups and other forward-looking areas.
Jelena Buraja, Chairman of Rietumu Executive Board, told El Mundo: “In recent years, the financial sector of Latvia, including Rietumu, has undergone significant changes. First of all, we were able to preserve and strengthen Tier 1 capital, a team of reliable senior managers, and trusted partners. Today, we focus our plans and resources on successful and sustainable further development. The bank's strategy is based on long-term development, which includes financing and investing in promising areas of a rapidly developing economy, such as green energy.”
When asked about the possibility of cooperation with Spanish businesses, Leonid Esterkin said: “We do not aspire to become a popular bank in Spain. But this does not mean that we cannot operate in your country. There are areas in which we can prove ourselves, and that is what we are planning to do.” He mentioned, in particular, neobanking – a new generation of financial services that are provided entirely in a digital format.
El Mundo writes in its special issue that the Latvian economy’s performance during the crisis caused by Covid-19 was not bad, and the country fared better than many others. The pandemic has brought along with it serious challenges, but it has also created new opportunities and brought to light long-forgotten issues in many national economy sectors. With the help of funding from the European Union and the state budget funds, the Latvian government has introduced a number of support measures to overcome the crisis.
According to Leonid Esterkin, at the moment Latvia needs to focus on development. It is necessary to make the country more open, improve conditions for doing business, identify priority areas for development, which may include health care services, the pharmaceutical industry, education, tourism and a number of others.
You can read the entire El Mundo supplement (in Spanish) here.
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