For the sixth year in a row, the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) awards the best Latvian exporters. PET Baltija Ltd. received Krišjānis Valdemārs' award "Latvians, go sail the sea!", as it ranked highest among 18 experienced exporter nominees, whereas Sprīdītis prize was awarded to AirDog, a product with outstanding export prospects manufactured by Helico Aerospace Industries, which competed for the prize with seven other companies.
Head of LCCI's Export Council Normunds Bergs explains, "You are eligible to compete for LCCI's "Valdemārs" prize if you represent a "Sprīdītis" category enterprise which is able to exceed at least EUR 700 000 in export turnover during the evaluation year. The leader among other outstanding exporters in 2015 was PET Baltija Ltd. The following enterprises were nominated for Krišjānis Valdemārs award "Latvians, go sail the sea!" in 2015: PET Baltija Ltd., Nordtext Ltd., SilJa Ltd., Art Fairs Service Ltd., S.B.C. Ltd., NP Foods Ltd., WWL Houses Ltd., Lattelecom Ltd., Kurzemes Gaļsaimnieks Ltd., Ask.FM Ltd., JSC RER, JSC Energofirma JAUDA, Biosan Ltd., TENACXEM Ltd., Mikrotīkls Ltd., Tilde Ltd., JSC Liepājas Papīrs.
"Sprīdītis" prize winner is determined during heated LCCI's Export Council debates. These debates finish only when white smoke emerges from the Entrepreneurs' House. The initial selection criteria are the first "separator" whereas the ones who succeeds at convincing us entrepreneurs that they are the best have greatest value, and AirDog was the one this year," stresses N. Bergs.
Bicycle manufacturer Blue Shock Taxi Ltd. gained Citadele Bank's prize among "Sprīdītis" nominee finalists.
The following enterprises were candidates of the "Sprīdītis" prize: Latvijas Humusvielu institūts Ltd., Blue Shock Taxi Ltd., MASS PORTAL Ltd., Wunderkraut Latvia Ltd., Helico Aerospace Industries Ltd., Autine Ltd., SPORT REVOLUTION Ltd. and Infogram Ltd.
As usual, the best among exporters selected by LCCI's Export Council
In order to become a nominee for Krišjānis Valdemārs' award "Latvians, go sail the sea!", an enterprises must have a 51 % Latvian share capital that exports at least five innovative products or has export relations with at least five countries in the amount of at least EUR 700 000, or it must have entered three new export markets during the evaluation year.
Small successful or new (up to five years) enterprises that have already reached a 50 % increase in exports, or that export at least three new products, or have reached at least EUR 150 000 exports turnover are encouraged to apply as nominees for the "Sprīdītis" prize.
The export awards were presented at the EXPORT DAY 2015 Forum, jointly organized by LCCI and Citadele Bank. The key topics of this year's Forum of 26 February 2015 were entering new markets, and the EU–US free trade agreement.