RIGA, March 30 (LETA) - The State Employment Agency and JSC Daugavpils Lokomotivju Remonta Rupnica (DLRR) train engine repairs company are planning to provide support to DLRR employees that are currently at risk of losing their jobs, LETA was told at the government agency. 

On Monday, March 28, DLRR and its subsidiaries LokRem, DL Metal and Logkom informed the Daugavpils branch of the State Employment Agency that they are laying off 240 employees. 

DLRR representatives indicated in their application that the war and Russia's aggression in Ukraine have severely impacted the company's operations. Ukraine's Metinvest Group owes EUR 8,225,550 to DLRR but is unable to pay off the debt because Ukrainian authorities have banned any international payments.

DLRR management said that they did not want to lay off any employers or make them retrain for other jobs.  The company's representatives also noted that DLRR is an important railway infrastructure company, especially in the Daugavpils region where it employs over 600 people. However, DLRR is forced to lay off some of its employees in hopes to preserve the remaining jobs. 

The State Employment Agency is planning in-person consultations at the company and is preparing a list of job vacancies consistent with the professions of the DLRR employees facing layoffs. 

As at March 28, 2022, Latvia's registered unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage points from the end of February 2022 when the unemployment rate was 6.8 percent, according to provisional data.