Citadele Bank

Citadele Financing Expanded Export of Electric Bikes Manufactured in Liepāja

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Blue Shock Bike, which manufactures electric bicycles, will invest EUR 150,000 from the Citadele Bank to expand output and to organise marketing events so as to increase exports. The company hopes to raise revenues by one-third and to sell at least 500 bikes this year.

Global trends show that 20% more electric bikes are sold each year than the previous year, with increasing understanding in Latvia and throughout the world about electric transport vehicles and their advantages.

Blue Shock Bike manufactures electronic bicycles in Liepāja, specialising in industrial needs such as bikes appropriate for postal carriers or police officers. The company plans to increase output to 3,000 bikes a year during the next five years.

“We plan to sell at least 500 bicycles this year and then to expand sales step by step,” says Blue Shock Bike development director Neils Kalniņš. “Electric bikes are mostly becoming popular in Latvia among companies and local governments. Valmiera, Saldus and Gulbene were the first towns to choose electric bikes for their employees. Companies that have bought the bikes include the Fortum energy company, the international auto leasing firm Hertz, the Europark car park management company, the Road Traffic and Safety Directorate, and other companies. I can say that an understanding of electric vehicles and their advantages is gradually being established, though we do not believe that we will increase sales very much in Latvia. We primarily see these products as a very good export product in Latvia.”

Blue Shock Bike sees the European Union and Norway as its primary export targets, pointing out that between 14 and 18% of all bicycles in Europe are electric bikes.

“One of the Citadele Bank’s priorities is to support manufacturing companies, and Blue Shock Bike is a new company that has immediately and successfully found a way to develop prospects and the environmentally friendly product that is the electric bicycle,” says the director of the Citadele Bank’s Small and Medium Company Services Division, Jeļena Smoļska. “It is commendable that at a time when an understanding about electric transport vehicles is increasing throughout the world, companies here in Latvia have found a way of developing the manufacturing these bikes specifically in Liepāja, which has a rich tradition of metallurgy and technologies. Existing skills are being merged with new and promising ones. Clients now have access to a Latvian-made electric bike. As the infrastructure for bicycles expands in Latvia, demand for Blue Shock Bike bicycles will certainly increase. The company is also working intensively to increase exports to the EU and Norway, with plans for 30% more revenues in 2015 than last year. The bank’s financing for output development, cash on hand for materials, as well as marketing events for export enhancement will be very useful, indeed.”

The cost of electricity for the electric bikes amounts to 10 euro cents per 100 kilometres, and clients of Blue Shock Bike say that the cost of the bicycle is recouped in two seasons if the vehicle is used actively. People save money by not having to drive cars, as well as time that is needed to walk or to experience traffic jams in cities. The electric bicycle can also be switched to the normal pedalling mechanism, which means that it is basically nothing more than a very fine bike.

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