Latvian Political Monitor

I can explain, I have a clear history of that. Everyday items like computers and office supplies are in the EIS system catalogs. You go in, choose, click, and you've bought. At some point under each item there was a procurement and then a long-term contract. About 4-5 years. Everything 'checked'. Well, there isn't much difference from market price, or none at all. Although there have been curiosities too. And then there's another option - an institution can go to ss lv, find the cheapest and send a request to make an offer. That's an administrative hassle and in the end it might turn out that the official gets blamed (legal nuances). So it's safer to buy from the catalog. In everyday items this all works relatively well, problems arise when you buy something unique or specific. And then in specific cases it's madness. Millions are paid for programming hours without any real understanding of whether you're overpaying even tenfold. Well, we mechanically addressed this during the IT moratorium. But then medical procurement also surfaced, with suspicions that prices are deliberately doubled. But currently the state doesn't have the capacity of such specialists who could objectively price IT - that would need a separate brigade (VDAA likely). Well, that's it. And closing such schemes is difficult because there's no easy way to prove waste or corruption. The European Prosecutor's Office in that same IT case promises results only after years. Those mills grind slowly.

I see this as the most essential problem, I defined it from the beginning. If the management of companies is not detached from the politburo, corruption and inefficiency will not diminish. There are two examples known worldwide. Singapore's Temasek (works excellently) and Malaysia's 1MDB, which ended with perhaps the biggest corruption scandal, the prime minister ended up behind bars. We need to seriously look towards eradicating Grafistāna at the root. The state capture structure overseen by Andris Grafs, the nightingale of Unity.

Ben, thanks for the concern. The steam hasn't vanished anywhere – it just no longer goes through the whistle but into the cylinders. Two fresh tasks: bitcoin in the deferred tax regime for investment accounts has now reached Saeima – I personally unstuck the stagnation in the cabinets. Supervisory oversight of small lenders at the Bank of Latvia – Saeima just adopted it. Both had sat in bureaucrats' drawers for years. It's easier to express yourself on Twitter. Writing a line into law is harder. I am now doing the latter. And communists are still communists. Only now I meet them not on Twitter but at budget tables.

🔴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.

Day No.75 in the prime minister's chair (Thursday) – 🇱🇻 world-class ammunition and ✈️ AirBaltic decision Today (Friday, 11 Sept) I went to Latvia's largest ammunition manufacturer, Ammunity, in Bauska. 🇸🇪 Swedish investors have invested approximately 40 million euros in the company, which for Latvia means its own production, its own stockpiles, its own competence and expertise. 💥 AMMUNITY + Baltic Bullets (Rēzekne) ➖️ In military production, it is essential to involve Latvian industry as much as possible, so that 30–40% of money spent on defense returns to the Latvian economy. ➖️ Ammunition production has enormous strategic importance. It is precisely production capacity in a crisis that determines whether a country can ensure its own supply and defense. ➖️ Ammunity produces a wide range of ammunition, allowing it to compete even in large international procurements. 🎯 A special Latvian success story is the jointly patented production technology of Ammunity and Baltic Bullets. Top-tier sniper ammunition has been developed, intended to be supplied even to 🇺🇸 US Army snipers. This was achieved through an unconventional and innovative approach to bullet design and production. The highest precision in the industry can bring Latvia's name to the world. ⚡️ Speed + specialization could become Latvia's “Nokia” in the military industry. But we again ran into obstacles of our own making. ⚠️ In Latvia, there is effectively no regulation specifically adapted for military production. I discussed the situation with R. Melnis – action will follow. A military factory cannot operate under the same principles as an ordinary civilian facility. We must reduce bureaucracy and legal overregulation where it directly hinders an industry important to national security. ➖️ The NBS lacks engineers and technical specialists who could precisely define technical specifications in procurement projects. ➖️ The NBS and the State Defense and Logistics Procurement Center do not have sufficient testing capabilities to independently verify the quality of products offered by Ammunity and other Latvian manufacturers. This is also important for fair and high-quality procurements. 🏗️ Even installing barbed wire on the factory territory can get stuck in the municipal building board's approvals. In a situation where military threats from 🇷🇺 are not a theory and we see similar security problems in 🇪🇪, we must critically review building regulations, environmental requirements, and protection zone rules in the military sphere. It turns out that Latvia has no fully developed special regulatory framework for military production. This must be changed immediately. I have instructed to tackle it immediately. I will give the task to prepare the necessary solutions, because it is not normal that military production is forced to operate under standard civilian rules, creating bureaucracy, uncertainty, and delays. 🚁💥 A very interesting novelty is also anti-drone ammunition developed in Latvia. The bullet's head contains five fragmentation elements that, when fired from a standard weapon, create a shot-like spread and can help neutralize a drone at approximately 30–50 meters. This means a soldier does not necessarily need another specialized weapon – it is possible to use the same weapon, just changing the ammunition magazine. 🌍 I see very large export potential here. ✈️ AirBaltic extraordinary meeting Today was also one of the heaviest and most significant AirBaltic decision moments. We evaluated the bondholder strategy and all possible scenarios. The situation is extremely complicated, but we jointly made a bold decision to move AirBaltic toward restructuring using the 🇺🇸 US Chapter 11 legal protection process. Why? Because the problem must no longer be kicked down the road again. Consultants have secured the possibility to attract competitive, world-leading bank-level financing for the restructuring process. 💶 We responsibly weighed the risks and benefits and decided not to burn taxpayers' money just because elections are approaching. ✈️ The adopted solution provides for maintaining AirBaltic's flight capability and service provision to customers during restructuring. After this decision, the government has done everything necessary so that: ➖️ AirBaltic's board, ➖️ council, ➖️ and the Ministry of Transport as shareholder have all necessary instruments for the company's restructuring and attracting a strategic investor. Now is the time not to postpone problems but to solve them.

Regarding the governance of state-owned companies... it must be fundamentally changed in the next government. All state-owned companies must be placed under the Latvian Development Fund, where there would be professional management and the earned money would be reinvested and earn, rather than be consumed in maintaining the state apparatus. Investments would earn with interest. The shares of this LV Development Fund would be listed on the stock exchange and would obtain the necessary capital for energy projects, regional construction, strengthening the border, infrastructure projects such as roads and railways, etc.

In private business, the manager is the decision-maker who allows things to happen but simultaneously takes full responsibility. In government, you depend on 3 coalition partners and their behavior in the Saeima. Therefore, without a dominant mandate from voters, it is impossible to achieve real bureaucracy reduction. After the elections, if society gives such a mandate, AS will certainly accomplish it.

My answer on what to do to reduce bureaucracy in the state apparatus https://t.co/1tuPES8UUq

We continue to improve the procurement system in Latvia - a draft regulation has been prepared on my initiative, providing that a single contracting authority or public service provider will be able to purchase software development services in the e-catalogue during a year for an amount not exceeding 140,000 euros.

The state's ever-increasing influence on the economy and the labor market is the main thing that drives people into the gloomy loop of socialism. You depend on your salary, and in state jobs, for most (almost all) there is no opportunity to accumulate capital and break out of the loop. In fact, yes, you are dependent on an administrative economy. Your salary is raised according to a schedule. And that determines how you think, vote, and how motivated you are. Pavlov's reflex. Here is an excellent interview where this phenomenon is perfectly laid out. https://t.co/aERFOhHAhl

Following my proposal, it has been decided that starting from 2027, information on procurements carried out by the state and other public institutions must be published regardless of the transaction or contract amount. Transparency helps promote responsible management and reduce the risk of wasteful spending.

Ukraine's path to the European Union is impossible without independent and strong anti-corruption institutions. 🇺🇦🇪🇺 In Kyiv, we discussed the legislature's responsibility in this process with deputies of the Committee on Legal Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The decisions that must strengthen the independence of anti-corruption institutions, their ability to investigate high-level corruption and recover criminally acquired assets begin directly with the legislature. Meanwhile, representatives of organizations DEJURE, AntAC and Transparency International Ukraine provided an open insight and assessment of the real situation, the progress of reforms implemented so far and the necessary improvements. A strong civil society is essential for decisions to be transparent and for politicians to be held accountable. Latvia is ready to share both its EU integration experience and the lessons we are still learning in strengthening corruption prevention, investigation, whistleblower protection and recovery of criminally acquired assets. Ukraine's European integration is a common project. It must be based on an independent, effective and resilient justice and anti-corruption system. 🇱🇻🇺🇦🇪🇺

Here's one concrete example, two. I'm talking about 'my' current ministry, where I have more direct daily experience. VID, an institution under the Finance Ministry, recently reduced its headcount by more than 1000. Now 2800, down from about 4k. Is that 'nothing'? The Finance Ministry itself has remained at around 250 employees, even though a host of duties has been added over the years. Is that nothing? And average salaries are not the highest, there's this KEM asking someone to bring coffee. And yes, I understand the popular negativity. Against bankers (traditionally) and what is the Finance Ministry in state administration? Essentially the same kind of accountants, state financiers. By definition they are and will be the bad guys. Because 'bankers'. I knew that from day one, I formulated it that way and urged accepting it as an inevitable given, I put on the usual uniform. You see, for 25 years I also owned an accounting firm. Before I sold the business, it was relatively large. Thousands of clients over the years. And sometimes clients had exactly the same attitude. For me it's like stepping into familiar slippers. I know this industry well, I understand. With one exception. My task as a manager was always to defend accountants from humiliation by business owners. Sometimes they allowed themselves too much. Over time it became such that they would cite me - they'd have to talk to Guntars. And eventually clients understood it was time to stop the mobbing. But I can't stop the public mobbing of the Finance Ministry right now. The employer is not a business owner whose choices are nevertheless rational. Here there is a frenzied crowd.

In Latvia, bureaucratic requirements must be reduced so that our working entrepreneurs can compete with companies from other countries, earn higher incomes, and thus also pay more in taxes. I received another confirmation of this when meeting with entrepreneurs at the Tosmare Shipbuilding and Repair Plant https://t.co/9KXJwZx3nX

@nezinu46 @AndrisKulbergs @ivchix In the ministries work about 3500 people, more precisely 3700. The salary budget is around 140 million per year, average gross salary 2.5k.

To clarify. The 1.9 billion is the compensation amount that includes defense (soldiers, national guards), as well as internal affairs (police, border guard, State Fire and Rescue Service), justice, and part of health (e.g., Emergency Medical Service). About 60% of this amount goes to security and order sectors, not to bureaucrats in offices. There are about 12 thousand bureaucrats.

@ltvzinas And why only now, but not three years ago? Because you know you won't be in this position anymore... But yes, I support this.