In a ceremony in Jēkabpils, the renovated Brīvības Street has been inaugurated, which was renovated among others by the general partnership Skonto Būve and Roadeks within the project “Reconstruction of Rīgas, Brīvības, R. Blaumaņa and Zaļā streets and the adjacent street network”

The event was attended by Jēkabpils Mayor Leonīds Salcevičs, Chairman of the Board of VAS Latvijas valsts ceļi Ivars Pāže, Minister of Traffic Aivis Ronis, Chairman of the Board of Skonto Būve Guntis Rāvis, and representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development and the State Regional Development Agency.

During their speeches, the participants expressed satisfaction with the street renovation projects, which are a significant contribution to the improvement of the street infrastructure and road traffic safety of the city. The city municipality has already received acclaim from numerous residents for the successful completion of the street projects. Residents are happy about the beautiful and wide streets, new parking places, and clean environment.

The Italian neo-Renaissance style building on Kr.Valdemāra Street 1B reconstructed and renovated by Ltd. “Skonto Būve” has been opened with new client service halls, customer service related departments and Statistical Bureau of the Bank of Latvia. The building is located in the historical center of Riga included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

After 19 month of façade restoration and interior reconstruction and restoration building has recovered its historical and majestic splendor, and it all was done under the strong control of Skonto Buve project manager Modris Seļakovs.

After completing the restoration work, the interior looks more luxurious than ever, with restored polychrome paintings, historical gilding, bronze coatings and untraditionally thick parquet. A number of new lamps were manufactured based on historical models, and this is only a small part of all the work carried out.

In performing this work, Skonto Būve has managed not only to maintain the majestic splendor and historic atmosphere of the historic building, but at the same time has created a building that meets the most modern requirements for administrative buildings and the highest safety standards.

This is the fourth year during which Guntis Rāvis, the manager of SIA Skonto Būve, has decided on his private initiative to support new students of the Latvian Academy of Art (LMA) by granting scholarships named after the famous painter Boris Bērziņš. In 2012/2013, the scholarship will be granted to three Latvian Academy of Art students: Kristīne Graudule, Sigita Lūse and Māra Brīvere.

This year’s meeting with the patron G. Rāvis was attended not only by the winners of this year’s competition, but also by scholarship holders of previous years and the Head of the Latvian Academy of Arts, Prof. Aleksejs Naumovs, the Head of the LMA Drawing Department, Prof. Edvīns Kalnenieks, and Lecturer of the LMA Drawing Department, Dace Lielā.

The Boris Bērziņš scholarship encourages students to focus on drawing and promotes the development of visual arts in Latvia.

At the start of the 2012/2013 Continental Hockey League season, one of the largest construction companies in Latvia, SIA Skonto Būve, continued the tradition and granted financial support in the amount of 200,000 euros to Dinamo Rīga ice hockey club. For the fourth year in a row, Skonto Būve has committed to becoming a supporter of Dinamo Rīga. Ice hockey is one of the most popular sports in Latvia, and this support is a tool in helping to achieve the best results.

Chairman of the Board of AS Dinamo Rīga Juris Savickis said: “We want our players to believe in their abilities and that the highest goal is achievable. Of course, the road to achieving this goal will be much more difficult than during the last season. The battle for a place in the play-offs will be very hard. But tenacity is the key, and that is something which our team definitely does not lack.”

The third twenty-four hour Krastu Mačs basketball tournament was opened by  the Skonto Būve slam dunk contest. The main prize of EUR 3,000 was won by Kristaps Dārgais, who managed to defeat Jeremy Evans, Utah Jazz, the winner of the slam dunk contest of the NBA All Star-Game.

Guntis Rāvis, Skonto Būve Management Board Chairman: "I am proud that Skonto Būve had the chance to bring international level basketball stars to Latvia to promote the development of Latvian sport. We have a good sports tradition, Latvia has had the opportunity to be proud of an international level basketball team. By inviting NBA stars to Latvia, we hope to inspire both youth and professional athletes for new challenges and achievements. I am convinced that now our athletes will demonstrate results that are worthy of respect at the slam dunk contest".

The contest jury comprised Ramūns Butauts, senior coach of VEF Rīga team, Dāvis Bertāns, Kristaps Janičenoks, captain of VEF Rīga team, Guntis Rāvis, Skonto Būve Management Board Chairman as the representative of the sponsor, and Māris Štrombergs, BMX racer, double Olympic champion. 

Meanwhile the Krastu Mačs tournament, which was supported by Skonto Būve, was won by the team from the right bank of the River Daugava. Both professional athletes and enthusiasts of sport, artists and politicians, led by the example of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, participated in the event.