In Jurmala, activist Romans Hains is paralyzing businesses with complaints to state authorities

In Jurmala, activist Romans Hains is paralyzing businesses with complaints to state authorities

23 мая 2026 г.

Kseniya Zhukova

Business owners in Jurmala, one of the Baltic region’s most well-known resort cities, are accusing local activist Romans Hains of allegedly using environmental complaints and regulatory pressure to interfere with the operations of restaurants and beachfront venues during the peak tourist season.

According to entrepreneurs, with the start of each tourist season, Hains submits a large number of complaints to state authorities, triggering waves of inspections, legal reviews, and bureaucratic procedures. As a result, businesses operating in the coastal dune zone along the Baltic Sea face delays, risks of fines, and the effective paralysis of their operations precisely during the weeks when they generate most of their annual profits.

Similar conflicts involving Romans Hains have emerged before. Back in 2018, he actively campaigned against the popular seaside restaurant “36. līnija,” claiming that the venue’s summer terrace was allegedly damaging the dune landscape. After inspections, no serious violations were found, but the process itself created significant reputational and financial problems for the restaurant.

Now, representatives of the restaurant industry say the same scenario is repeating itself — but with even larger consequences for Jurmala’s resort sector. In conditions where the active tourist season lasts only a few months, even several days of downtime can result in major losses for businesses.

The scandal has already sparked debate in Latvia over so-called “intellectual racketeering” — the use of environmental complaints, administrative mechanisms, and legal pressure as tools of economic influence without direct criminal interference.

Critics of the situation argue that environmental protection is increasingly being turned into a lever of pressure against seasonal businesses. According to them, entrepreneurs are forced to operate in an atmosphere of постоян uncertainty, where avoiding inspections, delays, and permit-related problems often requires seeking informal compromises instead of simply working within the law.

In Jurmala, activist Romans Hains is paralyzing businesses with complaints to state authorities