Riga Vice-Mayor Edward Ratnieks urges residents to comply with the new rules for using pyrotechnics on New Year's Eve and to launch fireworks only from midnight to 1 AM.
Edward Ratnieks noted that on New Year's Eve, the municipal police will be fully focused on ensuring safety in the city, including monitoring the use of pyrotechnics. At the same time, the vice-mayor emphasized that the police primarily respond to threats to life and health, and only secondarily to violations of established order. However, any neighbor or witness can document a violation with photos or videos and report it to the municipal police by writing to rpp@riga.lv, so that administrative penalties can be imposed on the offenders.
New mandatory rules for launching fireworks were approved on December 17 at a meeting of the Riga City Council. At that time, Ratnieks stated that the ban on launches "according to Moscow time" in the current geopolitical conditions is a reasonable decision, especially considering the active pyrotechnics in some parts of Riga around 11:00 PM.
On his own initiative, the vice-mayor conducted a survey on social media regarding the ban on fireworks "according to Moscow time." It involved 1,486 people: 70% supported the ban, 28% wanted to maintain the previous order, and 2% had no opinion.
Overall, the new rules provide for a ban on pyrotechnics at night to avoid disturbing residents' nighttime rest:
from June 1 to August 31 — from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM from September 1 to May 31 — from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM
An exception is New Year's Eve, when fireworks are allowed from 12:00 AM to 1:00 AM. The ban does not apply to public events approved by the Riga City Council.
For violations of the rules, an administrative fine is provided: up to 350 euros for individuals and up to 1,400 euros for legal entities.
Leave a comment