The forests in Latvia occupy 49.9% of territory and they have significant economic, ecologic and social functions. The notion ‘forest value’ is frequently understood as the value of wood only but non-wood values are often neglected because there are methodological and practical difficulties to estimate them in monetary terms. The list of forest plant non-wood product (FPNWP) groups potentially important for Latvia was made and the significance of them in Latvia’s national economy was estimated. To obtain the information about FPNWP in Latvia (kinds, amounts, value, own-consumption) the public opinion poll was carried out. 77% of the residents of Latvia aged 18 - 74 have gathered the nature products in Latvia in 2010. The most significant FPNWP are mushrooms, wild berries of family Ericaceae - Vaccinium myrtillus L., Vaccinium vitis-idaea L., Oxycoccus palustris Pers. and birch sap. The contribution of FPNWP in the Latvia’s national economy in 2010 was 66.8 million LVL, including 8.9 million LVL for the products sold in the market or exchanged among households.

According to a respective European Directive, it is now very important to use biofuels in transport as much as possible. Despite that, many studies on the use of biofuels in vehicles are done; the general increase in the share of biofuels in total fuel consumption is mostly achieved by compulsory admixture of biofuel to fossil fuel. In order to perform further studies on the use of biofuels in the existing vehicle fleet in Latvia, it is necessary to define the more widespread vehicle fuel system. In previous studies, the most widespread car fuel systems in Latvia were identified. Overall, 91588 trucks are registered in Latvia as per 01 January 2010, and only 51431 of them are suitable for road traffic. Some trucks of specific brand and model year are more popular and widespread in Latvia than others, and many trucks at the same time have similar or same fuel systems. The objective of this study is to determine the most widespread engine fuel systems for trucks in Latvia. The study is based on the analysis of the Road Traffic Safety Authority data, specific truck model manuals and information provided by car dealers.

40 % of energy in Latvia is foreseen to be produced in 2020 from renewable resources. Fast development of biogas production, as most perspective, started in recent years. The Ministry of Economics of Latvia planned for 2011 quotas for producing 467 000 MWh electricity from biogas with increased tariffs. 58 new biogas plants will be built. The owners are mostly farmers, which have big farms and land. The proposed technologies and equipment suitable for the local conditions of Latvia are analysed. The advantages and disadvantages are presented, conclusions and proposals are elaborated.

Since the economic recession in Latvia, the national debt in September 2010 amounted to 4.717 billion lats. The study confirms significant impact of downward trends of the economy of Latvia on the national budget performance indicators in 2009. One of the most commonly mentioned and controversial indicator is the real estate tax that has to be imposed also on the land. The aim of this study is to analyse and assess the system of the Land Fund of Latvia and features of tax application. The following three key objectives will be addressed in this research to achieve the determined aim: clarifying the concept of the land, types of property rights and ownership status; assessment and evaluation of allocation of national land-use according to targeted groups and the types of land use; and gathering information on taxes imposed on land and assessing property tax revenues from the land to provide the development assessment of the land fund system in Latvia. Recommendations for the improvement of the system of factors influencing the Land Fund of Latvia were developed as result of the study. The key recommendation is to develop a new monitoring and control system for the complete inspection of real estate objects classifying them according to the regions as well as the creation of integrated database based on administrable taxes according to the categories of real estate. The results of the study may be applied for identification of the impact of fiscal policy on the assessment of the development trends of real estate tax in Latvia.

MSMEs have become significant in the global economy creating most of employment, value added and fostering the economic growth. According to statistics, around 99% of businesses in the EU and Latvia are micro, small or medium. MSMEs have no limitation in type of business - it includes small family-run business, homemade production, agriculture, services and companies producing food, beverages, textile and others. The research aim is to analyse the role and development of MSMEs in the regions of Latvia. Research first describes MSME classification in the EU and Latvia and number of enterprises in each size unit. Then the research analyses regional distribution of MSMEs and its impact on the GDP and employment in 6 statistical regions of Latvia- Riga, Pierīga, Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, and Latgale. In all European countries MSMEs are the main source of employment - in the EU-27 countries MSMEs employ 67.4% of all employees and contribute 57.9% to the total value added. As the research shows, in the regions of Latvia increase in number of MSMEs per 1000 inhabitants will most likely mean increase in GDP per capita. On the contrary, the increase in number of MSMEs per 1000 inhabitants will most likely not affect or have a little affect on employment in regions.

Development of higher education in Latvia is influenced by external and internal factors. Therefore, all the EU enactments related to higher education shall be considered in Latvia. It is certain that until now not all legal and regulatory enactments of the Republic of Latvia and other countries, for example, Lithuania and Estonia, confirm to the EU documents. In this paper, the author summarises the general situation in the structure of Latvia's higher education and indicates the tendencies of Latvia's higher education in connection with the European Union. This matter is very pending, since during the previous years all the countries had to accept and confirm the Bologna Declaration documents in order to follow the set aims and to put them in practice. The study concentrates on some main aspects: to evaluate the situation of higher education structure in Latvia and to propose realistic development tendencies while being within the European Union Area.

The article focuses on the research results of differences between the number of dwelling houses and the total area of housing fund in the regions of Latvia. The aim of this paper was to compare and describe development of the housing fund in the regions. The investigation has showed that the development of housing fund was multiform in various regions of Latvia. The reasons for these differences are well-being and the standard of living, the economic development in the regions and other causes. The unemployment that caused migration from one region of Latvia to another with higher well-being has changed the quantity of residents or emigrants. The issues of development of the housing fund in various regions of Latvia still have not been analysed and described widely in scientific literature. The research was carried out employing the method of abstract - logical analysis, the graphical methods, the historical research as well as other well-known methods of economic research.

Environmental pollution with trace elements is considered as one of the most important environmental problems. Analysis of trace element accumulation in sedimentary phases of lakes may reflect the overall regional pollution level, but analysis of trace element accumulation patterns in sediment profiles can help to reconstruct the history of anthropogenic impacts. The aim of this study was to analyse trace element concentrations in the sediments of Lake Engure in Latvia and analyze factors influencing their availability. The metal concentrations in sediments of Lake Engure are at background levels, especially in comparison to metal concentrations in West European countries. However, analysis of element concentration changes in sedimentary profiles gives information about trends of recent accumulation (within the last 300 years) and the balance between natural and human induced accumulation processes. | Vides piesārņojums ar mikroelementiem tiek uzskatīts par vienu no svarīgākajām vides problēmām. Šī pētījuma mērķis bija analizēt mikroelementu koncentrāciju no Engures ezera sedimentiem Latvijā un analizēt faktorus, kas ietekmē to pieejamību. Ezera nogulumu slāņu analīžu rezultāti var sniegt vērtīgu informāciju par ezera attīstības gaitu, kā arī dabiskajiem un antropogēnajiem procesiem un to mainību ezeru sateces baseinā. Pētījuma iet varos tika ievāktas nogulumu serdes, kas laboratorijā tika sadalītas 1 cm biezos slāņos. Šiem paraugiem tika veikts datējums pēc 210Pb, analizēts organisko vielu, karbonātu un metālu saturs. Engures ezeram raksturīgi ļoti heterogēni sedimentu uzkrāšanās apstākļi, ko raksturo atšķirīgs ezera nogulumu slāņu dziļums un to fizikāliķīmiskās īpašības, piemēram, nogulumu analīzes liecina, ka ezera dienvidu un centrālajā daļā pie Dzedrupes ietekas pēdējo 100 gadu laikā ir pieaudzis karbonātu saturs, bet pie Mērsraga kanāla to koncentrācija nav būtiski mainījusies. Metālu koncentrācijas Engures ezera nogulumos vērtējamas kā ļoti zemas, īpaši, salīdzinot ar Rietumeiropas ezeriem. Zemais smago metālu saturs nogulumu augšējos liecina par nelielu antropogēno slodzi, kā arī var norādīt uz dabisku ģeoķīmisko procesu izmaiņām ezera sistēmā pēc Mērsraga kanāla izbūves 1842. gadā.

Large-scale residential areas are an important part of urban environment. The present condition of the outdoor territory in Latvia in the 21st century has both positive and negative characteristics. These characteristics greatly affect further development of these multi-storey residential area courtyards. Consequently, the chosen theme on the multi-storey residential area courtyards in Latvia is topical and essential for development of any urban environment. Multi-storey residential area courtyards in Latvia can be divided into two major groups that differ from each other with the period of construction. One group comprises those courtyards built in the second half of the 20th century, and the other group – courtyards planned and constructed in the 21st century. The method chosen and applied in the research helped define the current condition of multi-storey residential area courtyards. The examples chosen and analysed by the author of the present paper provide information on typical development tendencies of residential outdoor territories in multi-storey residential area courtyards in Latvia. The results obtained in the research are essential and topical, and can be considered in development plans for any other municipality of Latvia, especially for planning, landscaping and renovating the living environment in multi-storey residential area courtyards. The quality of living environment in courtyards greatly affects its exploitation intensity for everyday and recreation necessities for every resident of the area.

Over the last ten years, significant amount of the resources of the EU funds has been invested in EU Member States, which has improved the social and economic indicators of the regions of the Member States. From 1997 to 2010, Latvia has access to different EU funds for development. There are two periods marked in Latvia when it was possible to receive the support of the funds: the pre-accession period when the country was getting ready for accessing the EU and the post-accession period. This research clarifies the regulation of the EU funds as well as the related legislation and institutional system in Latvia.