REZEKNE SEZ CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY!
It's been a quarter of a century since the special economic zone in Rezekne was founded. The purpose of its establishment was to promote the development of business and market economy, attraction of investments, manufacture of export goods and services, creation of new jobs, promoting the development of Latgale as a region to be particularly supported, as well as participation of Latvia in international trade.
In honour of Rezekne SEZ's 25-year anniversary this year On August 12, a conference “Rezekne SEZ – Today and Tomorrow” was organised, as well as a celebratory event where the best commercial companies were honoured in the competition “Rezekne SEZ Commercial companies Annual Award 2021”, evaluating last year's indicators and achievements in 8 nominations.
Conference “Rezekne SEZ – Today and Tomorrow”
During the first part of the day, the conference “Rezekne SEZ – Today and Tomorrow” took place at the Latgale Embassy “GORS”. As part of the event, the CEO of Rezekne SEZ Krista Freiberga, deputy chairperson of Rezekne State City Council Aleksejs Stecs, chairman of Rezekne Municipality Council Monvids Svarcs, as well as Minister of environmental Protection and regional Development Arturs Toms – Pless and Minister of Economics Ilze Indriksone gave ceremonial speeches.
Representatives of other special economic zones and free ports of Latvia also participated in the conference, and during the event it was repeatedly mentioned that SEZ and free ports should promote mutual cooperation and common goals. CEO of Liepaja SEZ Uldis Hmielevskis presented actualities about the zone, noting the current issue of Liepaja SEZ regarding the development of Liepaja Metalurgs territory.
Agnese Buceniece, senior economist of “Swedbank”, presented the conference participants about the current situation in the economy of Latvia and various challenges.
Representatives of SEZ, industry experts, businessmen, representatives of local municipalities and government could express their opinions in two panel discussions – “Rezekne SEZ – Today” and “Rezekne SEZ – Tomorrow”.
Participants of the first panel discussion – Chairman of “VEREMS” RSEZ SIA Council and Council Member of AS “Latvijas Finieris” Janis Staris, Chairman of “LATSTAB” RSEZ SIA and “MEGASTEEL” SIA RSEZ Board Stanislavs Ratinskis, Liepaja SEZ CEO Uldis Hmielevskis, Latgale planning Region Administration Manager and Latgale Special Economic Zone CEO Iveta Malina Tabune, Rezekne SEZ CEO Krista Freiberga, Rēzekne Municipality Council Deputy Chairperson and Rēzekne SEZ Supervisory Board Erika Teirumnieka , Riga Freeport Authority Commercial Department Director Raitis Tukans and Ministry of Economy Deputy State Secretary Raimonds Lapiņs discussed the advantages of SEZ, available support instruments, as well as business problems and their solutions.
As part of the conference, an insight into the situation of free and special economic zones in the world, as well as valuable advice on how zones should work in the future, was provided by Dr. Mohan Guruswamy, chief knowledge specialist at the World Free Zones Organisation.
The second panel discussion focused on the challenges of the business environment, the development of the Latgale region, including the Rēzekne SEZ, and investment attraction. Member of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Edmunds Teirumnieks, Member of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia Juris Pūce, SIA "LEAX Rēzekne" RSEZ Manager Gints Jačuks, Chairman of SIA "Midis" RSEZ Board Nikolajs Pušņakovs, Rēzekne Municipality Council Member Kaspars Melnis, Rēzekne State City Council Deputy Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Rēzekne SEZ Supervisory Board Aleksejs Stecs, as well as Director of the Investment Projects Department of the Latvian Investment and Development Agency Ivi Anna Buce shared their thoughts and ideas about the panel discussion topics.
Rezekne SEZ Commercial Companies Annual Award 2021
In the second part of the Rēzekne SEZ anniversary event, the traditional Rēzekne SEZ commercial companies of the year award ceremony took place, where the best and most successful Rēzekne SEZ companies of the past year were honoured. Companies were evaluated in several nominations - "Product of the Year", "Service of the Year", "Exporter of the Year", "Cooperation Partner of the Year", "Innovation of the Year", "Most Environmentally Friendly Company", "Employer of the Year", "Most Socially Responsible Company". In total, 19 business partners of Rēzekne SEZ were evaluated. Taking into account both the received nominations and the performance indicators of the previous year, the winners were determined for the main nomination - "Company of the Year".
Winners of the Group of small commercial companies in the nomination “Company of the year”:
3 rd place - “ENERGY RESOURCES CHP” RSEZ SIA
2 nd place - SIA “MIDIS” RSEZ
1 st place - “RĒZEKNES DZIRNAVNIEKS” RSEZ AS
Winners in the group of large/medium-sized commercial companies in the “Company of the year” nomination:
3 rd place - SIA “LEAX RĒZEKNE” RSEZ
2 nd place - “NEWFUELS” RSEZ SIA
1 st place - “VEREMS” RSEZ SIA
Several companies received letters of appreciation for the received nominations:
The leader in the number of nominations received in the group of small commercial companies was "Rēzeknes dzirnavnieks" RSEZ AS, which received 1st place in the "Service of the Year" nomination, 1st place in the "Innovation of the Year" nomination, 1st place in the "Most Socially Responsible Company" nomination, 1st place in the nomination "Employer of the Year", 2nd place in the "Cooperation Partner of the Year" nomination, as well as 2nd place in the "Most Environmentally Friendly Company" nomination.
Information technology company SIA "Midis" RSEZ won 1st place in the "Product of the Year" nomination, as well as 1st place in the "Cooperation Partner of the Year" nomination.
The manufacturer RSEZ SIA "IRBIS Technology" received recognition for 1st place in the nomination "The most environmentally friendly company", 2nd place in the nomination "Innovation of the Year", as well as 3rd place in the nomination "Exporter of the Year" in the group of small commercial companies.
RSEZ SIA "MEGASTEEL", which produces concrete foundations, was awarded for the 1st place in the "Exporter of the Year" nomination, and the 2nd place in the nomination "Most Socially Responsible Company".
"REBIR" RSEZ AS received a letter of appreciation for the 2nd place in the "Exporter of the Year" nomination.
In the group of large/medium-sized commercial companies, the optical cable manufacturer RSEZ SIA "OptoElektronika LV" received letter of appreciation for the 3rd place in the "Exporter of the Year" nomination, and the rope manufacturer RSEZ "MAGISTR-FISKEVEGN GROUP.MFG" SIA for the 2nd place in the "Exporter of the Year" nomination.
Plywood producer "VEREMS" RSEZ SIA received a letter of appreciation for 1st place in the nomination "Exporter of the Year", 1st place in the nomination "Employer of the Year", 2nd place in the nomination "Most Socially Responsible Company", as well as 3rd place in the nomination "Cooperation Partner of the Year”.
The 1st place in the "Cooperation Partner of the Year" nomination was won by the pellet manufacturer "NewFuels" RSEZ SIA, the company also received 2nd place in the "Product of the Year" nomination, 2nd place in the "Most Socially Responsible Enterprise" nomination, as well as 3rd place in the "Employer of the Year" nomination ".
The metal processing company SIA "LEAX Rēzekne" RSEZ received the 1st place in the "Most Socially Responsible Company" and the 3rd place in the "Exporter of the Year" nomination.
Among the winners of the nominations is also the metal construction manufacturer RSEZ SIA "LATSTAB", which received the 1st place "Product of the Year", 1 st place in the "Service of the Year" nomination, 2nd place in the "Cooperation Partner of the Year" nomination, 3rd place in the "Most Socially Responsible Company" nomination.
During the festive event, thanks were also given to the supporters and cooperation partners of Rēzekne SEZ: Rēzekne Municipality Council, Rēzekne State City Council, Rēzekne SEZ Supervisory Board, Rēzekne Academy of Technology, Rēzekne Entrepreneurs Association, Rēzekne branch of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Latgale region, Embassy of Latgale "GORS" , "Olimpic Center Rēzekne", Eastern Latvian Creative Services Center "Zeimuļs", SIA "ALAAS", Rēzekne Branch of the State Employment Agency, Irish-Latvian Chamber of Commerce, Latgale Planning Region, AS "Swedbank", Liepaja SEZ, Riga Freeport, SIA "Baibinas ", as well as to Sandra Ezmale for the long-term management of the Rēzekne SEZ.
May the wishes that were dedicated to the Rēzekne special economic zone on the day of the event come true, and may both the zone and all companies that have chosen to do business in the territory of the Rēzekne SEZ develop succesfully!