RIGA, Feb 22 (LETA) - The government should pay attention and act in order to save the retail sector, said the Latvian Retailers' Association (LTA).

LTA calls on the government to urgently reopen all stores, giving up all lists of banned goods. 

The association said that the aggregate contribution of the sector to the national economy accounts for 37 percent of the budget. On January 1, 2021, there were 34,209 regional and small retailers.

"Inconsiderate and unbalanced, drastic decision lead to a significant drop in turnovers. The Competition Council has pointed out that such restrictions will lead to insolvency of the small and medium companies, they significantly threated development opportunities, the association said, reminding that non-essential stores had been closed from December 19, 2020, introducing a ban on certain goods in all other stores, while starting from February 8, all goods can be sold in food stores.

The association notes that such decisions distort the competition, impose an illogical administrative burden on retailers. The support system is unbalances - there are good downtime benefits for employees, but insufficient and delayed support to business operator for covering costs of premises, replacement of stocks, technical development of online store.

LTA has repeatedly submitted proposals to the government on gradual reopening of all stores, keeping in force restrictions. "Unfortunately, the sector's proposals had not discussed with professional organizations," LTA said in its statement.