In the regions of Latvia, there are vacancies, but at the same time there is unemployment and employers have problems in finding employees for their companies. The main aim of this research is to evaluate unemployment situation in the regions of Latvia. In the research, there will be characterised unemployment specifics in the regions of Latvia, inhabitant economic activity level and distribution by economic activity, as well as education level of unemployed people. During research there will be drawn conclusions and developed proposals for objective evaluation of unemployment situation and for improvement of remuneration in the regions of Latvia.

Beekeeping in Latvia is a long-standing agricultural industry developing rapidly along with other industries. A very rich composition of plants is found in Latvia, therefore bees have an opportunity to bring very diverse nectar into their hive. Beekeepers do not analyse the content of honey by either laboratorial or sensory methods defining it as honey coming from various flowers. More than 100 plant species producing monofloral honey can be found in Europe. Honey collected in Latvia could be described as monofloral, if it contains at least 45% of pollen coming from one plant, an exception refers to limes – 17% and buckwheat – 25%, respectively. The studies analysing the content of honey pollen have not been performed in Latvia so far, but the information is important for beekeepers and consumers of honey. 840 honey samples gathered in various places of Latvia were analysed in the study. The diversity of honey in the regions of Latvia based on analysis of their pollen was evaluated and descriptions of the types of honey based on botanical content and organoleptic qualities were provided. 72 plant species were identified in the analysed samples during the period between 2008 and 2014. The most common pollen comes from clover, osier family, fruit trees and rapeseed. The evaluation of diversity of the food base of bees in various regions of Latvia allows concluding that it is slightly different, because heather honey is not gathered in Latgale, while it is gathered in other regions of Latvia. Raspberry and phacelia honey has been gathered in Vidzeme for several years in a row. If the yield of facelia honey is the result of purposeful activities of beekeepers (nectariferous plants are being sown), the yield of raspberry honey depends on the natural food supply; the only duty of a beekeeper is to ensure pastures for bees.

The article discusses the Estonian poor trade relations with Latvia in the 1930s. The statistical record shows that Latvia’s share in Estonia’s balance of trade amounted to less than one per cent prior to the time that World War II broke out. It’s possible that due to their fairly sparse bilateral trade during the 1930s, trade relations of that period between Estonia and Latvia haven’t received much attention in the annals of economic history. The objective of this article is to provide a statistical snapshot of trade between Estonia and Latvia during the 1930s and a sketch of the trade measures that regulated the trade relations of the two nations, and to help discern the factors that might have influenced trade between them. After the UK had taken the step of devaluating the pound, Estonia and Latvia quickly introduced exchange control and licensing systems. Since the national currencies of both countries were initially not devalued, the competitiveness of their products fell off on the markets of the countries that had carried out devaluations, and this boosted trading between Estonia and Latvia up to a point. Viewed from the ten- year perspective, the apogee of trade between the two was during the years of 1933 and 1934. The devaluation of the kroon during the summer of 1933 favoured exports from Estonia to Latvia with her expensive currency, and the Bank of Estonia didn’t block forex transactions being conducted with Latvia. Hand in hand with this, a favourable attitude also prevailed towards granting of licenses for the conduct of trade with Latvia. Nonetheless, trade between the two countries lessened during the second half of the 1930s. Estonia’s positive balance of trade then brought about Latvia’s clearing debt, and the measures taken to lessen that debt led to a lessening of interest on the part of Estonia towards her southern neighbour. In 1936, the lat was devalued, with the result that products from Estonia lost their competitive edge on the Latvian market. During that year, Estonia’s trade with Latvia was quite evidently passive. Estonia, which had ended up in an unfavourable position, reacted in 1937 by backing out of previous trade agreements.

In order to meet the mandatory targets towards renewable energy sources (RES), Latvia, like many EU countries, facilitates energy production from renewable sources. Apart from the contribution to RES targets, the development of bioenergy in Latvia has presented business opportunities from one side and public burden from another side. The paper examines the value of bioenergy production sector in Latvia and some of its main impacts – the public service obligation (PSO) arising from the public support to the bioelectricity sector, as well as savings stemming from the use of fuelwood. Suitable qualitative and quantitative research methods have been applied to the studies. The authors have attempted to evaluate the approximate value of the bioenergy production sector in Latvia in 2014 based on the main production flows in biofuel, bioelectricity and bioheat sectors. According to the evaluation, the total bioenergy production sector value in Latvia was almost 690 million EUR in 2014. The majority of this value is generated by the heat sector (heat produced from fuelwood; consumption of fuelwood by industry, construction, and households; export of fuelwood), followed by the biofuel sector (produced biofuels; export of rape seeds) and the bioelectricity sector (mandatory purchase of electricity from biogas and biomass). Latvian bioenergy sector is export-oriented to a large extent; there is especially high value of the export of fuelwood, mostly wood pellets. The obtained results reveal that PSO boosts the price of electricity in the manufacturing sector of Latvia by about 8 %, while making only 0.2 % in the analyzed costs structure. At the same time, electricity prices of large industrial consumers in Latvia are higher than the EU average by about 6-9 %, which affects the cost competitiveness of Latvian manufacturing enterprises. The theoretic value saved due to the use of fuelwood (mainly firewood) instead of natural gas, arising from the lower price of fuelwoods versus natural gas, was evaluated at somewhat 407 million EUR in Latvia in 2014.

In Latvia, during the last 15 years (2000–2015), the area of common ash Fraxinus excelsior forest stands has decreased by 40.6%. The dieback was predominantly caused by the fungal pathogen Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Mostly young stands (up to 40 years old) were affected, accounting for 77.3% of the area of dieback. In this paper, we analysed the dynamics of young ash stand area within nature regions in Latvia to attempt to determine patterns of spread and the major migration routes of H. fraxineus. As suggested by the available data, the invasion of the fungal pathogen began in the southern part of Latvia, and then gradually dispersed across the country. The largest decline of young ash stands, during the period 2000–2010, occurred in lowlands. According to our estimate, the average rate of dispersal in Latvia was 40 km per year. At the scale of Latvia, the dispersal routes of fungal pathogen H. fraxineus largely coincide with the major migration corridors of biota and are related to macro-relief forms and their configuration.

The level of economic development in the country is significantly influenced by the availability of engineering specialists in the labour market. In the labour market of Latvia, the demand for engineers is satisfied only to the extent of 60-70 %. According to the Central Statistical Bureau data, the number of engineering students in Latvia represents 10 % of the total number of students, while in the European Union it is about 25 %. The fourth biggest university in Latvia (Latvia University of Agriculture) prepares engineering specialists in various fields – energy, construction, information technologies etc. But every year the number of students in engineering programmes is decreasing, which is affected by various factors, including the marketing activities implemented by the university. The aim of the research is to identify the problems of engineering education from the marketing perspective and to define the improvement opportunities. In the research paper, a case-study approach is implemented in order to analyse marketing-mix efforts of an engineering education provider, the Latvia University of Agriculture. The case-study approach was combined with a focus group of engineering students and alumni of the Latvia University of Agriculture and an analysis of a survey of potential students. The study shows that the price and quality of engineering programmes of the Latvia University of Agriculture (LUA) are competitive in the market. The main problems are connected with promotion. It can be concluded that there is a lack of information on the engineering programmes provided by the LUA, which is mainly affected by irregular marketing activities; the public image of the university does not seem attractive enough and does not revel connection with engineering studies.

The paper compiles different explanations and definitions of smart specialisation in Latvia. The development of smart specialization strategies (RIS3) should promote the competitiveness of countries or regions. For national level, RIS3 helps concentrate resources and support innovations. Desk research identifies lack of regional level when comparing smart specialisations in different countries. Nevertheless, some regions in Latvia have still stated RIS3 when elaborating their regional development strategy. The research performed is mainly based on desk research by using content analysis and the monographic method. An assessment tool from the RIS3 Assessment Wheel elaborated using the S3 Platform may be also used for assessment of RIS3 development in Latvia. The RIS3 of Latvia and Lithuania were compared and the differences were connected with transportation, usage of natural resources and society development. The RIS3 of Lithuania referred to the development of a sustainable environment, which was not present in the RIS3 of Latvia. The development of Latvia’s RIS3 has been assessed by using the RIS3 Assessment Wheel. The development of a tool for the synthetic representation of the progress made in drafting/designing a RIS3 allows condensing a huge amount of information in one visual model. There is measured development of Latvia’s RIS3 by comparing Latvian state institution official opinion with articles authors, performed as a first probation. There should be continued research on the regional level of Latvia, involving more experts and specialists particularly from the sectors representing smart specialisation priorities.

The effect of climatic factors on tree-ring width (TRW) of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) with healthy and damaged crowns growing in the central and eastern part of Latvia was assessed by dendrochronological techniques. Pointer year indices were calculated to assess the variability of TRW. Positive pointer years were more frequent than negative, similarly for damaged and healthy trees, suggesting similar limiting factors. The relationships between TRW and climatic factors differed regionally and locally. In the eastern part of Latvia, TRW was affected by temperature in spring of current and preceding years. In the central part of Latvia, weather conditions in current and preceding summer mainly affected TRW; temperature and precipitation had positive effect suggesting occurrence of water deficit, but the daily range of temperature had a negative effect. Hence, regional diversification of radial growth patterns might be expected. Some differences in sensitivity to climate were observed between the damaged and healthy trees. In the central part of Latvia, the damaged trees appeared additionally sensitive to temperature in summer. In the eastern part of Latvia, damaged trees were additionally sensitive to temperature in May. Nevertheless, some additional factors were significant for the healthy trees.

Housing is one of the most important life components giving shelter, safety and warmth, as well as providing a place to rest. There is a lack of unified definition for housing concept in Latvia. The aim of the study is to define the housing concept in general in Latvia and develop proposals for the classification of housing. Principal objectives are to describe and analyse the concept of “housing” and to develop the definition of housing concept in general that could be used in housing policy in Latvia for developing housing classification and analysing the aims of the housing policy. Analytical research method and comparative research method was used. The results and principal conclusions are: The developed definition of the term “housing” and the housing classification could be used in developing and implementing the housing policy as well as for statistics in Latvia and in other EU countries.

Babesia spp. are tick-borne protozoan parasites that have been reported in many European countries and are considered to be emerging pathogens. Several Babesia spp. have been identified in ticks in Latvia. Recently, canine babesiosis cases were diagnosed for the first time in Latvia; therefore, continued studies on the prevalence and occurrence of new species are warranted. In the present study, questing tick samples collected in 2005–2007 were screened for the presence of Babesia spp.; in total, 432 Ixodes ricinus and 693 Ixodes persulcatus ticks were analyzed. Babesia spp. were detected in 1.4 % of the I. ricinus ticks and in 1.9 % of I. persulcatus ticks. Sequencing revealed that ixodid ticks in Latvia contained Babesia microti, Babesia capreoli, and Babesia venatorum. Babesia microti was the most prevalent species, accounting for 58 % of all positive samples; moreover, two distinct B. microti genotypes were identified. Phylogenetic analysis of the full-length 18S rRNA gene of two B. capreoli/B. divergens isolates indicated a closer relationship to the B. capreoli clade than B. divergens. This is the first report of B. venatorum in I. persulcatus ticks in Latvia. Our results suggest that both I. ricinus and I. persulcatus ticks play important roles in the epidemiology of these zoonotic pathogens in Latvia.