The central bank of Latvia has announced closed competition on old coin utilization, DELFI reports.
Applications for taking part in the competition are accepted until March 22, 2013. Coins will be destroyed with the help of the special equipment on the territory of the Riga branch of the regulator on the Bezdeligu Street.
As it was earlier reported, when Latvia enters the eurozone, all the lat coins will be returned to the central bank for recycling. Out of melted metal the euro coins will be minted. The bank plans to recycle 1,190 tons of lats ($28.7 million). In 2013-2014 Riga will receive 400 million coins in different denominations weighing 1,673 tons.
Latvia will become the euro area member in 2014. The country’s president Andris Berzins approved the legislation on February 15, 2013. In the first days of 2014 both currencies will be valid, but later only euros will be in circulation.