“Kurbads”: Ice halls without external support will have a hard time surviving until spring

Photo: LETA

At the moment, the main task of the ice halls is to survive until spring, in the hope that then the prices of energy resources will normalize, but without external support it will be very difficult to do so, Andis Pikāns, chairman of the board of the transport and logistics company car “Kurbads un Ko” admitted in an interview with the LETA agency. The manager of the ice rink “Kurbada” SIA “Rumbulas sporta centrs” also belongs to the group of companies.

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He said that 70% of the costs of the “Kurbada” ice rink are electricity that drives the compressors that produce the cold, the ventilation systems and many other things. If before, to ensure the maintenance of the skating rink, monthly electricity payments ranged on average from 6,000 to 10,000 euros depending on the weather conditions, now they are already 30,000-40,000 euros.

“Before we fought for the hall to be self-sufficient and function without losses, because the main function of the hall is social, and this is how we as a company decided to share with the community by supporting a sports school, an opportunity for 150 young people of all ages. to play sports and to be active. Right now, this bucket is too heavy. The amount of money we currently have to take from our transport business to allocate to this social enterprise has become too much. It is clear that we will not be able to afford it in the long run “admitted Pikans.

He pointed out that ice sports with such energy costs will most likely die out simply because they become expensive.

Pikan said previously the average rental price for the rink was around 200 euros per hour. Currently, taking into account the increase in the price of electricity, the price should be on average 350-400 euros. Most of the parents surveyed from amateur hockey teams and sports school students admitted that they couldn’t afford to pay much more for room services.

“Well, the alternative is, of course, that people only play football and basketball from now on. But we know that hockey and figure skating in Latvia have very long historical traditions. So, in my opinion, it would make sense. think about how to join hands with everyone for these six to eight months, so that we can hold out in the hope that prices will drop, the market will normalize and we can keep these types of sports, instead of closing the halls and rebuilding them in warehouses. needs support, “said the leader of” Kurbads a Ko “.

In addition, he stressed that the support can be in very different forms, for example even purchases for schoolchildren’s skating lessons.

Board member of “Kurbads un Ko” Renārs Slesarchuks said that both the Latvian Hockey Federation and the Ministry of Education and Science, responsible for the development of sport in Latvia, have been informed of the situation.

He also stressed that the state should be aware at this time that almost the entire infrastructure of the ice rinks in Riga was built at the expense of private entrepreneurs and the state has not had to invest in its development so far. The exception in Riga is only the new ice hall at the “Daugava” stadium and the small hall of the “Rīga” hockey school, but all the others are private ice rinks.

“Unfortunately, at the political level, we have not yet been able to understand the Ministry of Education and Science. We really hope it will change. These are short-term difficulties that need state support to be overcome, because no one could have foreseen that the electricity price would have increased tenfold, “admitted Slesharchuk.

When asked if state support will not be received, if the alternative will be the closure of the “Kurbada” skating rink and the melting of the ice, Pikans replied in the affirmative.

It has already been announced that the turnover of SIA “Kurbads un Ko” last year was 10,299 million euros, or 22.8% more than the previous year, while the company’s profit increased by 79 , 9%, up to 1.68 million euros.

The company was registered in 1995 and its share capital is 152,224 euros. “Kurbads un Ko” belongs to SIA “11k holdings”, owned by Andis Pikāns.

On the other hand, “Rumbulas sporta centrs”, which is owned by “Kurbads un Ko” and Pikan, closed last year with a turnover of 261,252 euros, which is 19.1% less than in 2020, and it also made a profit of 42,854 euros in contrast to the losses of a year earlier.

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