The Deputy Chairman of the Council of Small and Medium Enterprises at the Chamber of Commerce, Guntis Vilnitis believes that the percentage of “black” economy and “black” market may reach 50-60% in Latvia, as reported by the program De facto.

As we know, last week the Riga Graduate School of Economics presented an analysis of the shadow economy in Latvia.

It turned out that last year the percentage of salaries in the “envelope”, as well as tax evasion amounted to 38,1% of GDP.

According to the researcher of the Riga School of Economics Arnis Sauka, prostitution, smuggling, trafficking of illegal alcohol, cigarettes and fuel, drugs and weapons were not included in this figure.

All of these products and services are related to the black market – the part of the shadow economy, which is associated with the turnover of goods and services that are not the subject of legal sales.

To calculate the precise turnover on the black market is almost impossible.

The Director General of the State Revenue Service Nellija Ezdakova said in interview that there was common opinion that the turnover from prostitution can be up to 100 million lats a year.

But the head of the SRS believes that this figure is too high.