Timely reorientation from transit to manufacturing will help Ventspils to survive through the crisis, also ensuring low unemployment level, said Ventspils Mayor Janis Vitolins (For Latvia and Ventspils) in an interview with LETA. In his words, the smart reindustrialization about which Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins has been speaking, already has taken place in the city, allowing it to be optimistic about the future. At the same time, the city is working on developing new objects that would attract tourists outside the active tourism season, thus, promoting the small and medium business in the city.

This summer you opened science center Vizium in Ventspils. What does this new object mean for the city?

We are very happy that we are the first ones in Latvia. Estonians were the first in the Baltic states, but we have done it before Lithuania. Lithuania is developing its first science center in Kaunas. Like Cosmos Center in Cesis, it will be opened next year. We are one season ahead of them, and it is a great advantage. For every municipality the biggest challenge is tourism outside the usual tourism season. This is the object that will be available also when there is no sun or snow, but there is a wish to go somewhere. I am sure that it will attract tourists, and it will be support to the small and medium businesses working in the services sector.

From the first day, we have seen this object not only as a place of tourism and entertainment, but mostly as an educational object for children and youth. It is the added value that is very significant. All seven galleries in the center are focused on promoting interest in science - human body, mathematics, physics, technological achievements.

In order for the new education opportunities to be accessible to a larger number of pupils, you said that also science centers would need a similar government support program as Skolas Soma (School Bag) for culture events. Have you turned to the state institutions with this initiative?

We know what challenges to expect in winter, when, possibly, many people will have to forget about traveling again. Together with colleagues from three more state cities we have signed and sent a document to the education and science minister, informing that such centers are being developed. The science center in Liepaja is already open, in Cesis and Daugavpils they are still in development process. These four centers have been developed with the support of the Norwegian financial instrument, these are the places that each pupil should visit at least once a year. They all include an educating function. Our center has education programs, four of them are for teachers. Teachers also have to learn about what we have created. Others are for children and youth.

You have the Future Classroom in the Ventspils High Technology Park. What is it offering?

The Future Classroom of the Ventspils High Technology Park is one of the activities of project Next Generation of Micro Cities of Europe, which we are implementing in the European fund program that is not in Latvia’s portfolio, but it is a direct Brussels support instrument. We and Valmiera were the only ones in the Baltic states who received this support. Four project partners - Valmiera Vocational Education and Training School, Ventspils Vocational Technical School, Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences and Ventspils University of Applied Sciences - received modern technical equipment. The main contents - Ventspils High Technology Park specialists, attracting the best educators, have developed digital tool Pratne.lv that is available online and can be used on mobile devices. Every school can use it in the study process. This has been huge work, and the Ventspils High Technology Park is not a charity institution, it hopes to earn money, therefore it would be logical and right if the Education and Science Ministry found resources for schools to afford these services. Maybe we in time could develop such classrooms at schools. It depends on the funding.

We have invited the education minister to visit us and get acquainted with the new opportunities, but this has not happened. Saeima education, culture and science committee chairman Arvils Aseradens (New Unity) arrived and gave us the best assessment.

Municipalities more and more face difficulties to attract specialists. How did you attract personnel for your new science center?

We have been working on the science center project for ten years. There were several project managers. Initially we thought that we should establish a new municipal institution to run the science scenter. In 2019 we understood that we already have Ventspils Digital Center, a municipal institution once created for promoting adult education in IT, and it is the right institution to take on this responsibility. Digital Center specialists have created the contents of the science center and we are proud of them and their work. Digital Center also serves al Latvian libraries. Its latest challenge is to serve IT systems in Ventspils University of Applied Sciences.

Ventspils has concert hall Latvia. What are its benefits?

Yes, it is another challenge because the concert hall is great. We have a unique organ and piano. Is it another tourism magnet? Of course, it depends on the repertoire. There has not been even one full season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Its artistic director Miks Magone is a high-level professional, but we have difference of opinions. Is the concert hall a place for every guest artist? Not everybody likes modern music. We are having constant discussions. The concert hall should be friendly to Ventspils residents not only to a narrow group of intellectuals from Riga. I hope the concert hall will attract more visitors in the future.

Tourists are complaining that there are few hotels in Ventspils. Do you agree with it?

We do not have high-quality hotels. Even though the number of tourist accommodation facilities is higher than in Liepaja, the supply is broad. We built a dormitory of the vocation schools which meets the requirements of four-star hotel. This helps us if there are basketball games or an international events where there are high-level requirements for accommodations.

During the visit of Economics Minister Ilze Indriksone (National Alliance) we said that state support to high readiness projects is very important. The state has to support industrial development. Last year Ventspils exported 87 percent of its output, in the first quarter of this year - 91 percent. It is a high indicator showing that we have high-quality and competitive products.

Have you submitted an appeal of amendments to the law on ports to the Constitutional Court?

We have not done it. Lawyers are still working on the application. It is not an easy task, but we will definitely do it. The most important is that an application of 22 Saeima lawmakers appealing the amendments has been accepted by the Constitutional Court. This will take about a year. Of course, the amendments have been adopted and the ports will work in line with them, but they are not good for the municipality.

What was the impact of the sanctions imposed by Office of Foreign Assets Control (US OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury on former Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs (For Latvia and Ventspils) and four related legal entities, including Ventspils Freeport Administration and Ventspils Development Agency, on the municipality and its development?

There were only losses. Of course, the freeport and the city are two integral parts. The port takes 42 percent of the city’s administrative territory. We had developed the port and freeport as a free economic zone with the best infrastructure for business. The free economic zone regime will be in force until 2035. It was a very successful joint work of the state and municipality. As a result, we had to restructure the city’s economy fully - restructure it from the dangerous transit sector to manufacturing. I think, there is no other precedent in Latvia’s new history. We had to create everything from scratch. We started to attract foreign investments. We have a special support system for all businesses.

It is important that there is little bureaucracy during the investment process. Business incubator and business support center are support instruments working on day-to-day level. Cooperation with education institutions - Ventspils Vocational Technical School, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences and High Technology Park - has ensured that we are the third largest manufacturing sector in the country after Riga and Liepaja. We are ahead of such historically successful industrial cities as Jelgava, Valmiera and Daugavpils. We have investors from more than ten countries - from the west and the east. This has been the right path, especially now when there are restrictions and transit will decline. It is an opportunity for residents to find jobs, therefore unemployment level has been low for a while.

Of course, freeport is important also now. But we are optimists. Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said that smart reindustrialization should be carried out. He has not come to visit us though to see how Ventspils has succeeded with it.

Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, energy resource prices have increased considerably, and as a result, prices of services and goods are also rising, and people are worried about the upcoming heating season. How will you be able to help your residents, and will you have enough funds in the social budget?

The municipality has 42 different kinds of social benefits and 12 kinds of social assistance, which proves how varied and targeted our social assistance is. Social service workers are professionally assessing every person’s real-life situation, not only whether he/she is a pensioner or a poor person. The assistance should be targeted. The municipality is already compensating heating costs for poor people, but the upcoming season will be a huge challenge also for us.

What is the situation with generation of heating in the municipality?

Our large boiler houses use woodchips for generation of heating in 94 percent of cases. One boiler running on coal will be replaced by the end of next year. The price of woodchip is also growing. We are looking for better prices. We have a long-term agreement with Latvijas Valsts Mezi state forest manager and about one third of woodchip comes from them.

A project on generating heating from waste has been supported. What the benefits will be?

It will be an extension of a boiler house. This is implemented by municipal company Ventspils Labiekartosanas Kombinats. It is clear that this is the way to go because the European regulations require that deposition of waste in landfills should be reduced. European funds will not be available for extension of landfills. I have no doubt that all landfills, all waste managers will go this way. This was the only European funds program available in this sector. We were the only municipality to run for the 2014-2020 planning period and got 50 percent support. The total costs of the project are EUR 21.9 million.