Organisation of international sports events and exhibitions in Latvia

• Merchants
• Associations
• Foundations

(!) All beneficiaries must correspond to the status of micro, small and medium-sized entities engaged in economic activity (commercial enterprises) in accordance with Annex 1 to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of 17 June 2014. More information in the section Useful websites

The maximum amount of aid that can be obtained for organising a single international sports event or exhibition is EUR 200 000, but the funding varies depending on the number of foreign participants and/or visitors to the specific event. For example, an event with at least 3000 foreign visitors is eligible for EUR 200 000 aid.

The aid intensity is 60%.

At the same time, an applicant may apply for several activity positions within the framework of a single sports event/exhibition, but without exceeding the maximum total funding. The event must last at least 2 days and be attended by at least 500 foreign visitors and (or) foreign participants from at least 4 countries.

Important!

In order to justify the choice of service provider and the price of the service provided, it is necessary to conduct a price survey and document it for all eligible activities when purchasing a service.

When conducting a price survey:

• for amounts up to EUR 70 000 (excluding VAT), at least 3 offers submitted electronically (by e-mail or electronically signed documents) must be evaluated.
• from EUR 70 000 (excluding VAT), a procurement procedure must be carried out in accordance with the conditions specified in Chapter IV of Cabinet Regulation No. 104 (likumi.lv).

Recommendations for conducting price surveys (market research) can be found on the website of the Procurement Monitoring Bureau (PMB)

Exceptional cases

In a situation where there are indeed no other potential service providers on the market who would be able to provide a specific service, please prepare and attach to the application annex a market research document prepared by the applicant. It should describe in detail all the activities that the applicant has carried out to conduct a preliminary study of the contract price, including:

• the specific nature of the service;
• all offers considered;
• the service providers surveyed and their proposed contract prices.

Within the scope of eligible activities, transactions with related parties are not permitted, i.e., relationships between the beneficiary, its participants, shareholders, members, board or council members, any of their relatives up to the second degree of kinship, spouses or relatives up to the first degree of kinship, as well as the beneficiary’s procurator or commercial representative, on the one hand, and the supplier, its subcontractors, as well as any of their participants, shareholders, members, board or council members, procurators or commercial representatives, on the other hand. This relationship exists even if the participants, shareholders and members are both natural and legal persons.

Industries and activities excluded from aid:

• Trade industry NACE Rev. 2.1 Section G “Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles”
• Financial intermediation industry NACE Rev. 2.1 Section L “Financial and insurance activities”, except for financial technology enterprises, i.e. enterprises that develop new business models, implement innovations, create new financial products and services, and improve service delivery methods and business models
• Commercial services industry NACE Rev. 2.1 Section M “Real estate activities” and Section 77 “Rental and leasing activities”
• Gambling industry NACE Rev. 2.1 Section S “Arts, entertainment and recreation” Group 92 “Gambling and betting activities”
• Tobacco product manufacturing industry NACE Rev. 2.1 Section C “Manufacturing” Group 12 “Manufacture of tobacco products”
• Primary production of agricultural products, fishing and aquaculture industry NACE Rev. 2.1 Section A “Agriculture, forestry and fishing”

1. Before the event ends, an application for the organisation of an international sports event and international exhibition must be submitted to the liaa.business.gov.lv e-service regarding the planned activities.
2. LIAA evaluates the application and makes a decision
   2.1. upon evaluation of the application for the organisation of the first international sports event and international exhibition, LIAA also makes a decision on the conclusion of an aid (umbrella) agreement;
3. After the activities and events have been carried out, the payment request must be submitted to liaa.business.gov.lv no later than 3 months after the event has taken place.
4. LIAA evaluates the submitted payment request and the accompanying deliverables
5. Payment of financial aid

Important!

1. Starting in 2024, applications may include activities related to international sports events or exhibitions that have already begun or are planned.
2. Applications may include activities for which costs have been incurred since 19 July 2023.
3. If an application is submitted for an international sports event or exhibition that took place in 2023, the event must have taken place no earlier than 5 September 2023
4. 2026 is the last calendar year for the submission and implementation of applications (the event must be completed by 31 December 2026), provided that no additional funding is allocated for export aid in the Cabinet Regulations
5. When submitting an application, the planned costs of each eligible activity must be substantiated with supporting documentation (such as a price survey, previous experience – exhibition costs for the previous year, other simplified costs, confirmation of the absence of a conflict of interest with the service provider or supplier, etc.);
6. When submitting a payment request, aid will be provided for activities that have taken place in accordance with the cost items and amount of aid specified in the approved application.
7. When submitting an application for the organisation of an international sports event or international exhibition, the planned costs of each activity to be supported must be substantiated with supporting documentation, such as a price survey conducted in advance, previous experience – exhibition costs for the previous year, other simplified costs, confirmation of the absence of a conflict of interest with the service provider or supplier, etc. 

Procedures for evaluation and aid (PDF)