RIGA, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Latvia has calculated
the total damage from its Soviet past at $200 billion, the
Delfi online edition said on Tuesday citing a government
commission.
The Latvian governmental commission has used economic
performance indicators in Finland, Denmark and the U.S. from
1950-1990 to assist in calculating the country's potential GDP
growth if it had never been part of the Soviet Union.
Latvia's GDP stood at 124 billion lats ($248 billion) in
2000 prices. If Latvia had remained independent and developed
at the same pace as Finland, its GDP would have increased by
$123 billion lats ($246 billion), according to the online
portal.
Although it is hard to accurately assess the economic
growth Latvia would have enjoyed if it had not been part of the
Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991, the authors of the report claim
the Soviet "occupation" had demographic, social, economic and
moral consequences.
The local NRA newspaper reported earlier in the day that
Latvia intended to demand some $712 million from Russia in
compensation for environmental damage allegedly inflicted on
the Baltic state during the Soviet era.
"We have only assessed the environmental damage to the
country, and these are the preliminary figures. The total
damage has yet to be calculated," Edmunds Stankevich, who heads
the government commission, told RIA Novosti.
The commission will release a final figure next year.
Russia has rejected Latvia's claims.
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