Translated material
The economy won
Russia and Latvia will finally sign a border agreement
Today, in the difficult history of Russian-Latvian relations, a long-awaited historical event will occur. Prime Ministers of Russia and Latvia Mikhail Fradkov and Aigar Kalvitis will sign the long-suffering border agreement, which Moscow and Riga could not conclude for a decade and a half. The ceremony will take place in the Russian government building. And tomorrow at 13:00 Moscow time Aigar Kalvitis will be received by Russian President Vladimir Putin.The Latvian government ratified the text of the border treaty back in 1997, but then its signing was repeatedly postponed. The crisis came in 2005, when the Kalvitis government attached a unilateral declaration to the text of the treaty with reference to the 1920 peace treaty. The Russian side regarded this step as an advance of territorial claims. After all, that long-standing agreement included part of Latvia’s current Pskov region, including the city of Pytalovo. In Riga, this Russian city is still called Abrene. In such a situation, signing an agreement was out of the question.
Russia and Latvia returned to the border issue only this year. On February 8, the Latvian Seimas (parliament), after heated debates, decided to give the government the right to sign a border treaty with Russia without a declaration previously attached to it. In early March, Kalvitis's cabinet disavowed the unilateral declaration, and the only obstacle to signing the agreement was removed.
After the document is signed by the heads of government, it must be ratified by the parliaments of Russia and Latvia. Only after this the agreement will come into force.
“I do not expect that ratification of the border treaty in the parliaments of both countries will be easy. The situation is difficult both in the State Duma of Russia and in the Seimas of Latvia. And yet, I remain moderately optimistic and think that the business interests of Moscow and Riga will contribute to the ratification of the document,” Latvian political scientist Peteris Vinkelis noted in an interview with Vremya Novostey.
The newspaper’s interlocutor explained: “The signing of a border agreement between Russia and Latvia will open the way to the conclusion of a number of bilateral agreements, for example an agreement on the abolition of double taxation. The way will also be open for bilateral economic projects. It can be assumed that Latvia is of interest to Russia as an outlet to the common Baltic and Northern European markets - here we can talk about energy and transit.”
The version about the economic rationale for improving relations between Russia and Latvia was confirmed yesterday by Aigar Kalvitis himself, who said that on Wednesday he would meet with the chairman of the board of Gazprom, Alexey Miller. It is planned to discuss the possibilities of using Latvian infrastructure for storing blue fuel. The Latvian Prime Minister confirmed that a project to build a gas storage facility in the town of Dobele will be discussed, but refrained from making predictions. After all, whether Gazprom will want to invest considerable funds in the development of the Latvian gas storage facility is an open question. During negotiations with Alexey Miller, the Latvian Prime Minister plans to discuss the possibility of concluding a long-term agreement with Gazprom on gas supplies to Latvia, since short-term ones, in his opinion, do not ensure price stability.
The Latvian Prime Minister's three-day visit to Moscow began yesterday. Aigar Kalvitis has already managed to meet with Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II. The head of the Latvian government also spoke with compatriot entrepreneurs working in Russia. In Moscow, he is also scheduled to hold talks with the Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref, the President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, as well as participate in a round table at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry headed by Yevgeny Primakov.