Riga, March 2 (LETA) - Some regional development goals included in the National Development Plan have not been achieved, according to the annual report of Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) to the Saeima on the performance and planned activities of the Cabinet of Ministers, which will be reviewed by the government on Monday.

The report concludes that, although much has been done to promote balanced regional development, in some areas the planned results have not been achieved.

For example, wage equalization among regions is slow and there is a risk that the 2027 target will not be met.

As the report points out, wages in the planning regions are showing some positive dynamics, but there is no significant regional convergence.

The report notes that in 2024, average gross wages increased in all regions, especially in Latgale (+10.9 percent) and Vidzeme (+9.4 percent), outpacing Riga (+8.4 percent). Growth was slower in Kurzeme (+5.6 percent).

The highest wage level in the Riga region remained at EUR 1,918, while in Latgale it was the lowest at EUR 1,263. In the Riga region, the average wage exceeded the national average by 9.7 percent, while in other regions it was 71.9-84.7 percent of the national average.

Additional factors influencing wage growth were the increase in the minimum wage from EUR 620 to EUR 700 in 2024, as well as wage growth in the public sector, which was faster than in the private sector in several regions.

The report also concludes that the regionalization of public authority functions is moving forward, but that the process is not proactive and there is no systemic approach.

Moreover, the positive effects of the administrative-territorial reform are not yet reflected in the data, despite the structural changes.

Overall, the action line Balanced Regional Development highlights positive achievements, such as the fact that it has been implemented with a high level of investment in infrastructure to support business, improve public infrastructure and ensure mobility.

Public infrastructure for business is being developed under the European Union (EU) Recovery and Resilience Facility and Cohesion Program, and industrial parks have been created in Valmiera, Jelgava, Liepaja and Daugavpils.

The report also highlights investments in mobility and support for municipalities to purchase zero-emission vehicles.

The State Audit Office previously criticized the process of purchasing zero-emission vehicles, pointing out that 19 electric buses were purchased by local authorities for EUR 8.4 million, with significant restrictions on their use.

Some of the buses were of inadequate quality and not all of them were fully zero-emission, thus not fully achieving the objective of the measure. On average 53 percent of the time in a year, electric buses are idle due to the restrictions. Some of the new electric buses had significant quality deficiencies at the time of delivery.

The prime minister's report underlines that access to state and local government services has been improved. The network of single customer service centers of state and local governments was expanded to 315 locations in 35 municipalities.

Attraction of private investment in less developed regions exceeded the target and remained on a positive trend, and other planned measures were taken and delivered results.