Rinkevich's Road Song: The President Returned the Second Bill to the Saeima 0 10

A Collision, Another Collision

So, the essence of the story is as follows. The best budget for 2026, if we believe the statements of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, was accompanied by no less than 47 wonderful bills that are part of the so-called budget package. Among these 47 outstanding documents was one rather unremarkable — "On State Fees for Road Use." The amendment stated that a fee for road use would be introduced for commercial vehicles weighing 3 tons. For the parliamentarians, such "mathematics" turned out to be too complicated — they did not even understand the difference between freight transport up to 3.5 tons and over 3.5 tons. And the difference, as it turned out, is significant — all cargo vans are also covered by the new financial regulation, including those used by farmers for transporting crops, delivering their products, etc.

A scandal erupted. The "Green Farmers" immediately attacked their sworn friend, Minister of Transport Aitis Švinkus ("Progressives"), criticizing him for such an amendment, which the parliamentarians accepted without looking. It is clear that the "progressives" did not remain silent and made a counterattack — they demanded explanations from the Minister of Economics Viktor Valainis from the Union of Greens and Farmers regarding the cancellation of the requirement for regular verification of water meters last summer.

Or We Will Block the Roads

However, this squabble among politicians did not make it easier for the owners of commercial vehicles, who threatened to hold a protest action by blocking the roads. After a meeting with the outraged farmers, the Minister of Transport promised to urgently address the mistakes. In turn, the deputies from the opposition United List jumped into action, whose bill to repeal this amendment on road fees has already been included in the agenda for today's Saeima meeting. However, the parliamentarians no longer need to support this opposition bill, as the president preemptively exercised his right to return the law on State Fees for Road Use for revision to the Saeima.

In a letter to the Speaker of the Saeima, Daiga Mierina, the president refers to the materials on the development of the law: they indicate that the planned changes will directly affect legal and natural persons who own or use freight vehicles with a total weight of over three tons and participate in the transportation of goods on Latvian roads subject to the road fee. This concerns both national and international freight carriers.

The head of state noted that the introduction of a fee for this type of commercial transport could also hit consumers — in other words, prices for goods and services will simply rise. And this is in the context of already high inflation!

The deputies now have two options for action — either modify the bill by excluding the rejected amendment or completely forget about this bill until January, in which case the previous version of the law will remain in force, where the fee is charged only for vehicles weighing 3.5 tons and above.

Returning — A Good Omen?

One way or another, President Rinkevich is returning the second law to the Saeima in a short time — let us recall that in November, the head of state refused to sign the law on Latvia's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention. Interestingly, during his 2.5 years in office as president, Rinkevich has never returned bills for revision before!