Latvian Political Monitor

In France, 11% of fuel stations have no fuel at all. There are many more where either diesel or petrol is missing. And the price in the rest is already approaching €2.50. Meanwhile, local activists think even worse than excel. We'll reduce taxes, take from hospitals, and fuel will appear in gas stations cheaply. As Brezhnev said, the economy must be economical.

There is definitely no such plan. The prospect of raising VAT looms only for 2029 or 2030, if the Saeima remains as stupid as it is now. I don't see it as a solution, rather a capitulation. That's why I don't consider it. Why? Because you can raise it, but can you collect it? Estonia's experience is not exactly good. For them, it has gone sideways for all time. Debt is growing rapidly (though from a low level). They went into absurd politics there. They promised and cut taxes here and there, but significantly increased spending on defense, similar to us. And such an approach is a trap: the deficit increases, debts grow rapidly.

To avoid raising taxes, it is necessary to limit the growth of expenditures. They don't promise that, because everyone wants the sharing of money (the opposite). This very example with the very popular 'let's promise a drop in fuel prices' is right from that chest. Here the question is not about 'what' to wish for, but let's look in the mirror: what kind of politics do we endlessly want? Each for their own pocket. But that cannot, even theoretically, end tax increases and the path toward financial catastrophe🤷🏼‍♀️🤡

@simple_avg_Joe Need, yes. From the series so that everything would be, and nothing would be for it🤡

Go ahead and comment. How can barely funded schools, which spread the funding so that everyone gets less on average, ensure the main thing - the quality of education? Our state spends more on education as a share of GDP on average than developed countries (OECD). There is nowhere more. For this reason, municipal spending is also higher than the OECD average. Nowhere further either. Just don't put here the tired traditional slogans about noble intentions. I know them all (on two A4 pages).

France has been in a destructive spiral of public debt for many years. Politicians fail to maintain fiscal discipline, the rating is gradually downgraded, the interest rate on debt increases, the debt itself grows. France is currently the biggest time bomb in the EU that threatens to trigger the next financial crisis. If it doesn't go off outside the EU first. As elections come, they promise again, because how can one not promise while the can is rolling and rattling down the mountain. By the way, we have a similar situation. All 4 years of the next Saeima are red, in deficit. Not only have promises been made, but a series of decisions have been made to allocate funds without coverage (hundreds of millions every year until Doomsday). Practically all are heartbreakingly good intentions, how can you object to them? For example, small schools with 3 children per class. Meanwhile, the appetite does not subside. For the elections, parties energetically throw in the next good intentions as if they were tires for the Midsummer bonfire. Hang in there ✊

@andrislov I understand business very well... also predators like Ryanair, for whom € is above all.

🔴Transparency in procurement from the first euro. 🔴Supervision of non-bank lenders will now be under @LatvijasBanka. This week, significant work has been successfully completed to help organize our country's economy and create a more transparent environment.

@VisockisJuris Juri, I understand that you have only your truths and then others. Thanks for the conversation.

Regarding taxes - logically, they must be paid. It is a matter of self-respect and honor towards oneself and society. But we must remember that national borders have long ceased to exist when we talk about e-residency. Choices can be varied where to base oneself. US companies settle in Ireland, for example.

@VisockisJuris @jautaa_veel @AndrisKulbergs @AlvisHermanis1 @RostovskisA @AndrisBite For clarity, I am very conservative against migration from third world countries. We must accept the fact that it exists and decide together how to regulate it for our own good. Taxes can be paid wherever one wants nowadays. They can also reside in another country if anything.

@GenaGenadijs @jautaa_veel @AndrisKulbergs @AlvisHermanis1 @RostovskisA @AndrisBite Feel free to look it up, I won't waste time on trolls. Caravel and Turiba.

@GintsVilgerts @B03091315B If I'm not mistaken, it was ~€480 that I paid, but there were options.

For information on what was discussed with the President: - Arctic Summit 2026 foreign policy news, EU MFF budget and Latvia's position - Stopping Russia's grain transit and prioritizing Latvian grain - AirBaltic Chapter 11 approval, receiving financing and attracting a strategic investor - RailBaltica progress on common Baltic positions in talks with Estonian and Lithuanian prime ministers

@EMEL_LV @SirupsP I say the opposite, if anything.

That is the classic understanding of justice. People always put their personal wallet first. The highest level of justice is when you get more and the best - all the world's money. Envy is especially motivating - redistribution advocates cite as an anchor argument 'because he has more'!

Currently it has been reduced by 4 cents. The state budget already has a hole, which reduces the possibilities to finance even the health sector. Next year and the next 3 years, the budget hole is in several billion euros, someone will have to cut it off. The minus only gets bigger. Riches, believe? Those 4 cents do not solve anything individually, the rise in fuel prices is determined mainly by global processes. Can be torn down further, can even divide the country into Lenin's logs. What will we gain, where are we going? Quo vadis? Me, me and mine!

Inheritance tax seems fair (you didn't earn it), but economically it works destructively. This is an ever-present and well-known dilemma. If you know they will take it away (the Progressives have called for taking away even half of your savings), then in practice it promotes a culture of spending—blowing it all, because you only live once. Live it up. And as a result, a country with such a 'fair' policy accumulates less national capital, and that is one of the most significant factors fostering economic backwardness. If you're threatened with confiscation, capital goes off and grows elsewhere. Then they wonder—why do shops, factories, and technologies mostly belong to foreigners? Profit and capital go elsewhere, we're just wiped off. That's the dilemma. A choice between what's fair and what's prudent.

Gladly. But on the other side there are expenses for priority areas. Excise tax + VAT finances practically everything, except pensions and the majority of the social package. No one agrees to reduce the money for themselves. Now on top of that, a whole bunch has been promised for the elections. The procedure is such that you first free up the spending side, then you can reduce any tax. And not the other way around.