In early summer, Olga Chernyavskaya, a candidate for the European Parliament from the Young Latvians (Jaunlatvieši) alliance, fled to Belarus. Shortly after, in an interview with a Belarusian government-funded news agency, she stated that the economic situation in Latvia was terrible and asked rhetorically how Latvia could have the most expensive utilities in the world. Delfi checked Chernyavskaya's statement and found that it was not true. The interview was published on BELTA's YouTube channel and has been viewed 10,500 times in two months. An excerpt from the interview was also published, which currently has 8,300 views. In it, she voiced the previously disinformation that Latvia has the most expensive utilities in the world. Delfi found that this is not true. Having studied Eurostat data on final consumption expenditure of households in the European Union (EU) member states by consumption purpose, it turned out that in 2022, Latvian households spent an average of 920 euros on water supply, various home-related services, electricity, gas and other fuels. This is below the EU average of 1,270 euros. Utilities in Latvia are cheaper than the average in the EU member states, not to mention other countries in the world. However, it is important to compare the cost of utilities in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, since the income level is different in each country. Expenditures on water supply, other housing services, electricity, gas and other fuels as a percentage of GDP in Latvia are also not the highest in the world and in the EU. In Latvia, they amount to 4.5% of GDP. In Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Greece and Italy, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, which have received EU candidate status, the share of utility costs in GDP is higher than in Latvia. The EU average is 3.5% of GDP. These figures may have changed due to inflation, which was among the highest in Latvia, but energy prices and housing costs have increased throughout the EU. Delfi tried to contact Olga Chernyavskaya through her social media profiles to find out where she got the information that Latvia has the most expensive utilities in the world, but did not receive a response. The content creation project is co-financed by the Federal Republic of Germany as part of the 2024 competition for sustainable development and media literacy. JSC DELFI is responsible for the content.
