RIGA, Sept 9 (LETA) - Riga City Court on Friday decided to declare Rigas Mikroautobusu Satiksme (RMS) minibus operator insolvent, and the company will not ensure passenger transportation any more, as LETA learned.

The insolvency claim was submitted to court by the company itself. The court's decision is final.

Juris Micerevskis has been appointed the insolvency administrator.

At the end of June, legal protection process was started for the company. RMS had to submit the legal protection plan by August 29, but it was not done.

RMS representative Maija Lazdina told LETA that a decline in passenger flow during Covid-19 pandemic seriously affected the company's revenue, therefore the company in September 2020 asked Rigas Satiksme municipal public transport company to allow to increase fares as provided in the sub-contractor agreement. No agreement has been reached.

RMS provided passenger transportation services on minibuses on 11 routes in Riga.

RMS losses in two years have reached EUR 4.45 million, and the number of passengers has dropped by 70 percent during the pandemic.

In nine years, since RMS started providing its services in Riga, RMS has carried 75.5 million passengers.

RMS was registered in 2013 and has a share capital of EUR 1 million, according to Firmas.lv. RMS belongs to B-Bus, and the beneficial owner os Vitalijs Komars.

In 2021, the company's turnover dropped to EUR 3.68 million and losses reached EUR 1.8 million.