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The Addiction Centre in Olaine has been opened

On 5 October 2016, the opening ceremony of the Addiction Centre of Olaine prison was held. The Addiction Centre is intended for inmates with addiction related problems and serves as a pioneer for positive changes in the overall penalty policy and the system of correctional services

The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Latvia Dzintars Rasnačs, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to the Republic of Latvia Steinar Egil Hagen, Director General of Latvian Prison Administration Ilona Spure, as well as representatives from such institutions as Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Latvia, Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Service, State Probation Service, correctional services of Poland, Lithuania and others. The construction of the Addiction Centre was started halfway through the year of 2015 and took place until March 2016. It can accommodate 200 inmates with addiction problems and it will provide work places for 70 employees. Based on the knowledge approbated from Norwegian and Polish colleagues, two special re-socialization programmes Pathfinder and Atlantis will be introduced and adjusted for working methodologies in the Centre. The construction of the Addicted Centre of Olaine prison took place within the framework of Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 project LV08/2 “Establishment of a new prison block in Olaine prison, including construction and training of staff” and the costs of the project were approximately 5.4 million euros where 85% was financed from Norway and national co-financing from the State budget of Latvia was 15%.

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