A visit to the company by the Saeima Subcommittee on the Environment, Climate and Energy

23. February, 2024

On 23 February, we hosted Jana Simanovska, Chair of the Saeima Subcommittee on the Environment, Climate and Energy and politician Ervins Labanovskis to discuss current issues in the field of climate neutrality and the circular economy. The agenda ranged from energy, costs and responsibilities, labour, industrial waste management and the possibility of returning manufacturing by-products to the circular economy, to modelling projections of whether, how and for how long manufacturing companies could use hydrogen as an alternative resource.

During the visit, Ģirts Vēveris, Member of the Board responsible for production at AS VALMIERAS STIKLA ŠĶIEDRA, stressed that although the country has no strategic plan or guidelines, they need to be drawn up so that businesses can project expenditures into the medium to long term. He also pointed out that support mechanisms must be levelled out at the EU level so as not to undermine the competitiveness of companies. Energy must be both accessible and competitively priced. In crisis situations, a mechanism must be in place to prevent speculative energy pricing. At present in Latvia, companies are seeking and are forced to seek their own solutions to emergencies, while the availability of energy and labour is an issue in all realms of business.

It is common knowledge that VALMIERAS STIKLA ŠĶIEDRA is an energy-intensive company, which manufactures products for a wide range of applications in various sectors of the economy, including for energy efficiency measures. However, the company's competitiveness is seriously threatened because energy prices have increased rapidly and several-fold. At the same time, the European Union's Green Deal requirements are being introduced and the company must rapidly become climate neutral.