Sissetulev kiri

Dear Kertu and Vivika,

I would be very grateful if you could share your experience with one additional, more specific question.

We understand that wholesale tariffs for other water companies supplied by Tallinna Vesi have been approved (28 November 2025: EUR 0.85/m³ for water and EUR 0.80/m³ for wastewater).

At present, our Ministry of Climate and Energy is considering amendments to the Law on Water Management Services that would require the regulator to approve separate wholesale tariffs for other water companies. This would mainly affect Rīgas ūdens and its surrounding companies, as well as several other service providers in the regions.

In this context, we are asking the Ministry to establish legal principles that would allow deviations from the standard principles of technical and economic justification (set in the Law on Regulators of Public Utilities). Our position is that, if these principles are strictly applied, the tariff reduction envisaged by the Ministry cannot be achieved, so we need other principles set in the  specific regulations for the sector.

In return the Ministry is looking at us for ideas. Rīgas ūdens would be ready not to apply return on capital to water supply and wastewater collection (but would still apply them to water production and wastewater treatment). We see some potential for minor reductions in administrative costs and water meter costs. With regard to the depreciation of fixed assets, careful consideration must be given to whether and on what basis it could be applied to a lesser extent.

Against this background, could you please elaborate on the following:

• * Which cost items were reduced or excluded when calculating the wholesale tariffs for Tallinna Vesi?

• * Was it ensured that all costs of providing the services were nevertheless fully covered (by other user groups)?

• * Is there any specific methodology or set of rules in legislation that regulate such an approach to calculating lower wholesale tariffs? If so, we would greatly appreciate it if you could share the relevant provisions (in Estonian), along with some indications of where exactly they are set out.

Dear Vivika,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am writing to you regarding Tallinna Vesi. In recent months, there has been considerable public discussion in Riga about district heating, partly driven by political developments ahead of the elections. Recently, similar attention has turned to water services.

In this context, an active member of the Latvian Parliament (Saeima) has prepared a comparison between the Baltic capitals; however, the information presented is not fully accurate.

I would therefore appreciate your assistance with the following factual questions:

1. 1. 1. Is it true that as of 1 July 2026, water and wastewater tariffs in Tallinn are required to be equal for household consumers and legal entities?
   (While practical implementation may be delayed, is there a legal requirement to transition to equal tariffs?)

2. 2. Has Tallinna Vesi received any state or municipal subsidies (that are not included in tariffs) for water management purposes during the past three years?

3. 3. What is the WACC value for water management services for 2025 and 2026?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Dace Čodare-Plaude
Water, Deposit System and Waste Management Department

Head of Water Management Division
T.    +371 66222344

Skanstes street 25,
Riga, LV-1013
www.sprk.gov.lv


Šis e-pasts un tā pielikumi var saturēt ierobežotas pieejamības informāciju un ir paredzēti tikai tā saņēmējam. Ja esat saņēmis šo e-pastu kļūdas dēļ, Jums nav tiesību izmantot, pārsūtīt vai kā citādi apstrādāt šajā e-pastā un tam pievienotajos dokumentos ietverto informāciju. Šādā gadījumā nekavējoties informējiet par to sūtītāju un neatgriezeniski izdzēsiet šo e-pastu ar tā pielikumiem!