In 2024, the work continues on the development of the investment framework for the 2021-2027 programming period of the European Union (EU) funds Cohesion Policy, including reallocations and project selections, as well as the development and submission of investment improvement proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers (CoM) will continue. Ministry of Finance (MoF) has submitted an update on the investment progress in June-July this year to the Cabinet for a review.
Project selections of EU funds for the period of 2021-2027 have been announced or have already been concluded for 1.5 billion euros, providing support for the infrastructure of medical facilities, small and medium-sized enterprises, business infrastructure and the construction or renovation of social housing. Projects worth 571 million euros are under implementation in the fields of employment and social inclusion, research and innovation capacity building, and payments have been made to project implementers for 66 million euros for business support (financial instruments), climate change mitigation, employment and social inclusion.
In June, the first interim payment was received from the European Commission (EC) in the amount of 35.9 million euros for started investments of financial instruments to support business.
For the implementation of investments of EU funds for the period of 2021-2027, the regulatory framework has been approved for a total of 2.2 billion euros, which is more than half of the planned allocation of EU funds (4.2 billion euros) for investments in sectors. Institutions are continuing to work on the development of other investment conditions. In cooperation with social partners, project selection criteria has been approved for 68% or 2.9 billion euros. Work also continues on the submission of proposals for the development of investments to the Cabinet, following consultation with the social partners.
In order to increase the pace of investments and promote faster economic growth, amendments to the EU funds programme for the reallocation of funding for investments in the amount of approximately 600 million euros are being submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for approval. After coordination (including in the EU Funds Supervisory Committee) MoF plans to submit the programme amendment project for approval to the CoM in the fall of 2024, while after that it will be officially submitted to the EC.
In the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) investments, the regulation of the COM has been approved for 99.6% of the available funding of 1.94 billion euros. 302 projects are under implementation with a RRF support of 1.4 billion euros. By July 2024, a total of 81 indicators out of the 229 milestones and targets set for Latvia have been met.
As for the EU funds 2014-2020 programming period, the implementation had concluded in 2023.In 2024, checks continue and the last expenditure made on projects up to 31 December 2023 is approved. Sufficient financial execution is forecasted, to receive the entire allocation of 4.6 billion euros available to Latvia.
The informative report on the current affairs of EU funds and AF investments until July 2024 is available on the EU funds website (LV). MoF informs the government about the implementation of the Cohesion Policy EU Funds and the Recovery and Resilience Facility once every two months.
