Located on the Vidzeme Upland, the Cēsis region represents a golden mean in terms of financial discipline – debts are 9.46% of the budget (in 2023 – 10.52%).
At the same time, there is a vigorous economic activity taking place: with a population of 41,324 (January 1, 2025, CSB), there are 4,895 registered enterprises (Enterprise Register of Latvia). The unemployment rate in the Cēsis region in August 2025 was only 3.2%, while the national average was 6.4%.
And it’s not that the Cēsis region is dominated by an unregulated market. The local government, led by Jānis Rozenbergs ("New Unity"), remains a significant economic player: on an area of 2,886 sq. km (which is larger than the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg at 2,586 sq. km), local authorities control 1,692 km of local roads, of which 266 are streets. In comparison, the state maintains 974 km of "its own" roads in this region.
The municipality has 16 estates and palaces plus 1 museum, generating income from tourism, as well as costly infrastructure, such as 37 educational institutions, 21 cultural centers, and 25 libraries.
The economic practices of the Cēsis region can be characterized as planned without exaggeration:
– the Gauja River bioregion initiative is being implemented; – a management plan for water bodies; – a forest management plan; – the "Cēsis-2025" concept as the capital of culture of Latvia; – the concept of Piebalga as intangible heritage.
Municipal institutions aim for quality service for clients. In 2024, 51% of the local population was satisfied with life in the region, 37% were neutral, and 12% were dissatisfied.
Economic Activity
In fact, the local government spends 25% of its budget on it, making it the second largest expenditure after education (45%). The budget revenue plan for 2025 amounted to 92,749,203 euros, which represents a significant increase compared to four years ago — just over 68 million euros.
One can also compare this with the income of Latvia's second city – Daugavpils: 155,871,962 euros planned for 2025. Meanwhile, the city has a population of 79,903, which is 1.93 times larger than that of the Cēsis region. However, the income part is only 1.68 times larger.
In 2025, Cēsis implemented 37 economic projects attracting 77 million euros, including 40.1 million euros from EU funds. The leading areas were: culture (26%), energy efficiency (19%), transport infrastructure (17%), and entrepreneurship (16%).
Infrastructure projects, the purchase of school buses, and educational infrastructure are fully implemented through local government loans.
For Children and Seniors
To finance these initiatives, former municipalities joined efforts. Thus, in the Jaunpiebalga union, a municipal nursing home for seniors is being built (2.48 million euros). Among notable projects are a reconstructed kindergarten (0.73 million euros) and an emergency management center (0.55 million euros).
The Vecpiebalga union is repairing streets (0.58 million euros), a stadium (0.43 million euros), and the road in Dzerbene (0.39 million euros). The Amata union will spend the most money on the Nitaure-Pakausi road (0.98 million euros).
The most extensive works will be in the Ligatne union – the reconstruction of the famous Rehabilitation Center (2.4 million euros) and the Gaujas street (1.14 million euros).
Despite the absence of lower-level local governments in the country than regional ones, the Cēsis region has formed 9 resident councils, which even held elections. For example, in Ligatne, two councils were formed – in the city and the former municipality. One can also implement their own nano-projects – 60,000 euros have been allocated for this year.
And about those who will continue to boost the economy of Vidzeme in a quarter of a century. In 2024, 241 children were born in the Cēsis region, which is quite good, considering that in some Vidzeme cities – for example, Ainazi, not a single child was born.
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