RIGA, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Selling Latvia's strategic telecommunications, media and energy companies will require government permission under new amendments to the national security law passed by the parliament on Thursday.
The new legislation also gives the government the authority to dispossess shareholders of their holdings in strategic companies or order them to sell their shares.
The national security law has been amended in order to ensure the continuity of the strategic companies' operations and to prevent risks to Latvia's national security that might arise from changes in strategic companies' ownership, authors of the amendments explained.
The new regulations, however, will not apply to past acquisition deals.
Karlis Serzants, chairman of the Latvian parliament national security committee, said the amendments will affect around 30 companies, but that most of them are state-owned or municipal enterprises and as such "pose no risks".
The number of privately-owned strategic companies is negligible, the lawmaker said.
Serzants indicated that the new restrictions are likely to apply to the recently announced deal in which Swedish media giant MTG is selling its broadcasting business in Baltic states, including TV3 and LNT TV channels in Latvia.
He said MTG had been holding talks on the sale of its Baltic business with representatives of "media companies not particularly friendly" to Latvia.
The new legislation would also apply to the gas transmission and distribution operators separated from Latvijas Gaze gas utility, which means that the government's permission will be needed to sell shares in these companies, Serzants added.
Conexus Baltic Grid, the gas transmission and storage company, which was recently founded by splitting up Latvijas Gaze, has already claimed that the amendments would infringe on investor rights.
The new regulation will apply to large telecommunications services providers with a significant market share and particular national electronic mass media.
The government will have to decide on the strategic companies' obligations and requests to allow selling or buying a controlling interest in such enterprises.
The companies included in the list of strategic enterprises will be obliged to provide certain kinds of information to the government, shareholders or stakeholders, as well as state authorities.
The legislation on strategic companies will take effect on the day after it is passed.
