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LETA Executive Director Una Klapkalne stressed that this was the starting point of the cooperation between the news agency and the Archive of Audiovisual Documents. Today, the archive received the first set of photographs covering yearss 2005 and 2006. In the coming years, the archive will receive more photographs and footage, created by "LETA Video".

"These photographs capture the key events of these years, people, cityscapes, December 2006 with no snow, public transport tickets that cost 20 santims, construction of the main infrastructure facilities, such as the Dienvidu Bridge and "Arena Riga", and others. The archive has been created so as to encompass as much as possible and characterize the key developments in Latvian sports, culture and politics. The photographs were selected so they would be interesting for person to look at thirty or forty years from now," said LETA Photo Bureau Chief Elita Cirule.

The Archive of Audiovisual Documents was handed over 170 photographs from 2005 and 362 photographs from 2006. "There are fewer pictures from 2005, because the photo department had just started to work then," explained Cirule.

Archive of Audiovisual Documents Director Dace Busante pointed out that the archive had trouble gathering exactly those materials that were created in Latvia following the restoration of independence. For instance, newspapers, televisions and radio stations have their own archives, while the State Archives lack materials informing about the past few decades.

"The start of the collaboration between the agency LETA and the archive is very important contribution to supplementing the national documentary heritage of Latvia, and a great gift for all those who use the archives. LETA visual documents will enrich the archive as valuable cultural and historic evidence about our country's life, events, the people following the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia. These documents are very important, because the archive sorely lacks documentary evidence about the period since the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia," said Busante.

Today, the Latvian National News Agency LETA celebrates its 95th anniversary.

LETA's predecessor, Latopress, was founded on March 4, 1919, when Prime Minister of the Latvian Interim Government Karlis Ulmanis issued a decree on the establishment of a Latvian press office. The Latvian Telegraph Agency, LETA, was established after Latopress was reorganized on May 5, 1920. LETA today is the largest news agency in Latvia that offers all kinds of information about the developments in Latvia, Baltics and the world, as well as offers a broad range of business information services.