On Thursday, August 6, the CC announced that the current Waste Management Regulation restricts free competition in the waste sector. According to Zane Gorškova, the head of the CP Communication Department, at the beginning of this year, considering the draft law on waste management, the Saeima rejected the CP-supported initiative to ensure waste management in Riga according to the free market principle. In the opinion of the CC, the principle of the free market would mean that existing and possibly new service providers could operate throughout the territory of Riga, who would be constantly involved in the fight for the customer with the quality of service and the cheapest price.
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Although Riga has currently selected waste managers as a result of the procurement, the Waste Management Law still does not ensure sufficient competition between managers and the best result for residents and legal entities, Gorškova believes.
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Daiga Buča, press secretary of “Eco Baltia vide”, pointed out that
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Free competition in the waste management market is a matter not only for Riga, but for Latvia as a whole
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– if competition in the market in Riga was ensured by procurement, in which, in accordance with the tender regulations, any merchant with the appropriate operating license and resources could participate, then a number of municipal procurements still do not exist and the market as such is closed to competition.
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“This is an issue that should be addressed as a matter of priority at the regulatory level, ensuring that procurements for the provision of waste management services are organized in all regions of Latvia and residents receive the best offer both in terms of price and service quality,” said Buča.
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At the same time, the company’s representative expressed the opinion that the Riga municipality in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MEPRD) created the best long-term solution to the current situation, ensuring continuity of waste management services and competition between companies.
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Also, “Eco Baltia noted that
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the average price level in Riga was maintained, including a decrease in service fees for a number of residents,
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as well as the overall infrastructure and waste sorting facilities throughout Riga will significantly improve in the coming years.
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According to Buča, the idea of a single service fee throughout Riga and the solution offered by the Riga City Council in the previous procurement was slowed down directly by the CP.
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Commenting on the difference in the fee for waste removal between the territories, Buča pointed out that each of the tenderers prepared its tender in accordance with the requirements set in the procurement, taking into account the individual possibilities.
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By participating in the procurements, “Eco Baltia vide” has taken into account a number of factors in the calculation of the fee – population density, potential amount of managed waste, number of individuals and legal entities and their share, required sorting infrastructure, technical requirements, landfill tariffs, landfill distance, fuel prices, customer service resources and solutions, labor costs.
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the internal cost items of different companies, for example in terms of labor costs or logistics, may differ significantly, “
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She revealed that in general “Eco Baltia vide” started in the procurement in servicing three territories, but in only one territory the tender commission recognized the company’s offer as the best, which means that competition between companies in the procurement process was ensured.
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