It is not yet known how much loss could be caused by the closure of the Opera due to repairs / day

Ticket sales are also an important source for covering daily expenses. The big hall is played on average 15 to 16 shows per month, which will not lead to about 30 shows due to restrictions.

This situation will have a negative impact on the opera’s financial performance in 2026, Voldins predicts, refraining from mentioning more accurate losses. It is planned to discuss possible solutions with the Ministry of Culture (KM) at the annual report meeting.

Asked whether the performances could be moved to another place, Voldins said that due to the stage size, stage design and specifics of the opera, there is a very limited number of performances that could be transferred to other venues at all. It would also require additional adjustments to both the shows themselves and the venues.

At the same time, the opera staff will not be suitable – attempts by 2026/2027 in April and May, as well as guest performances in Estonian and Lithuanian national operas.

Tickets for April and May 2026 have not yet been marketed, so there are no spectators to have a refund.

As reported, TV3’s « Nothing Personal » reported on June 15 that LNOB will have to close due to the rules of rebuilding for several months.

Voldiņš told the broadcast that LNOB needs to be replaced by engineering networks and wires. The works have been planned for a long time so that they can be done in the summers when the performances are not happening. However, officials, according to Voldiņš, have agreed on procurement rules for more than a year, and now the end of the work is coming to a rapidly approaching, which will still have to stop opera work for several months.

The KM told LETA that the LNOB had been informed of the Ministry relatively recently and asked the ministry to prepare detailed and clarified information to be considered at the upcoming meeting.

At the same time, the CM points out that during this period, LNOB’s work should be planned so that the artists are employed and the LNOB offer at other venues at least partially.

Part of the financial contribution of the Opera Building Reconstruction Project comes from the European Union (EU) recovery and resilience mechanism plan.

Ieva Luste, Public Relations Specialist of the Central Finance and Contract Agency (CFLA), for the administration of EU funds and other foreign financial instruments in Latvia, stressed to LETA that the institution had not coordinated or evaluated any documents regarding the performance of the work.

Project selection in this recovery fund (AF) program is carried out by the Ministry of Economics (EM) and KM, Luste revealed.

She also informed that the project application was submitted to the LNOB on October 20, 2023, but on 5 December of the same year, the opera made the necessary clarifications in accordance with the conditions of the EM. On the other hand, on December 20, 2023, the EM project was approved.

As this AF program provides that the beneficiary concludes the contract with the CFLA after the project has been approved, the contract for the implementation of the project was signed on January 5, 2024.

According to the information available to the CFLA, the project has been influenced by the amendment of the conditions of this AF program in the Cabinet’s 443rd regulations on improving energy efficiency in the national and historic buildings sector.

It is planned to implement energy efficiency measures of EUR 12.1 million at the LNOB historic house. This will be the largest investment in the LNOB building since the reconstruction in the early 1990s. The total amount of EUR 11.6 million is financed from the EU’s recovery and resilience mechanism plan. The project will also invest in LNOB own funds.

The LNOB building is an architectural monument of national importance, so special attention will be paid to the implementation of energy efficiency measures in accordance with the recommendations of artistic technical research, including the renovation of the interior of individual spaces according to the need.