The passenger carrier Lux Express Latvia has filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Transport of Latvia and the Road Transport Administration due to delays in compensation payments for subsidized passenger transport.
As reported by board member Aldis Kiben, the statement has already been submitted to the Administrative District Court, which is currently deciding on the further consideration of the case. The company demands that the state be obliged to compensate for expenses related to the legally mandated discounts on intercity commercial routes.
According to Latvian legislation, the right to subsidized travel is granted to large families, people with disabilities, orphans, and politically repressed individuals.
Lux Express Latvia states that it has been diligently providing subsidized travel to these categories of passengers for over two years, yet has not received the legally mandated compensations. The total amount of debt, according to the company, exceeds 500,000 euros.
Kiben noted that the company supports the subsidy system, but negotiations with the Ministry of Transport and the Road Transport Administration have yielded no results for over a year. According to him, the process of obtaining compensations is excessively bureaucratic, and new requirements are constantly imposed on the carrier.
The company believes that the state is delaying the resolution of the issue, despite the fact that the carrier has fulfilled all additional conditions, including paying VAT of over 75,000 euros and providing all necessary accounting documents.
Interestingly, the Road Transport Administration recognized Lux Express Latvia's right to compensation of 670,398 euros for transporting subsidized passengers from May 2024 to December 2025 in April of this year. However, additional checks were then appointed.
The company emphasizes that it hopes to resolve the situation through negotiations but simultaneously doubts whether the state has sufficient funds for timely payments to carriers, reports the portal grani.lv.
