A person who has left their home because of war needs to know what kind of future they can build for themselves and their children. 🇱🇻🇺🇦 Many Ukrainian people have already been living in Latvia for more than four years. They work, pay taxes, their children study in our schools and have found friends here. Behind the words “temporary protection” are families who need clarity about their future life. That is why we have submitted amendments that, after five years of continuous residence in Latvia, would allow applying for a permanent residence permit, subject to certain requirements — including knowledge of the Latvian language and learning about Latvia’s culture and history. At the same time, we respect Ukraine’s defence needs. The Saeima has referred the draft law to a committee for consideration. Our goal is to have it adopted within this term.
Posts and News from Apvienotais saraksts
Political posts and news from Apvienotais saraksts among monitored Latvian public sources.
@pineconehiller I do not think the media are corrupt in Latvia. At least I have not seen/felt it over a dozen or so years. That a media outlet has to earn money through clicks, however, is true. If someone brings you news that is guaranteed to appeal to the public, you can guess the choice. And news is most often brought not only by competitors from other parties.
From@pineconehiller@CerinsAivis If a media person says that… then what is happening in our media…? Probably accidental commissions…🧐
Open referenced post
From@guntarsvThe ministry is not 'milking' anything; it is basically just state accounting. They are best at calculating. It is the same as in the private sector - accountants know the numbers best. I have 25 years of experience in this field. The difference is that the state is run by elected people, not knowledgeable business managers. That is why absurd nonsense is heard that 'accountants are to blame'. In a private company, the board does not do that, because that would mean the board are monkeys and the result is bankruptcy. Such a business ends.
Open referenced post
@KBBergis @Andrejs96162082 Ireland once set up an offshore and earned its wealth. Now this practice was cancelled for them. But they didn't take away the wealth.
From@KBBergis@Andrejs96162082 @guntarsv Ireland has many opportunities - American whales have chosen Ireland as their European home. You don't even need to bother with oil to live well. :)
Open referenced post
@ArtjomsMilovs @VadimsLasenko One can allow for such a possibility. It really can be so, you are right Artjom👍 If there is a need, the responsible institutions will be able to find out very simply.
From@ArtjomsMilovs@CerinsAivis @VadimsLasenko Why don't you allow for the possibility that all taxes were paid from this money?
Open referenced post
@ArmandsKalni @Braze_Baiba Smiling :)
From@ArmandsKalni@CerinsAivis @Braze_Baiba Puče as a sensible source??? You made me laugh. One would expect independent judgments from a former "journalist"!
Open referenced post
@IvoButkevics I watch debates for that reason, more precisely, I almost never watch them. In public debates, the best graduate of PR training wins. Snappy catchy phrases. Voice timbre, pauses, etc. You can watch them just enough to find out the best PR specialists.
From@IvoButkevicsEconomic policy debates always make me depressed. "The state must invest", "the state must direct", "the state must support"...
Open referenced post
@andrislov @KBBergis My views have always been that way. Unfortunately, for you as a troll, it is a priority to badmouth voters of other parties, especially right now before the elections. Or to dispute what has been said if it does not fit with bland slogans.
From@andrislov@guntarsv @KBBergis Mr. Vītols, countries become rich where capital is not considered a crime and the entrepreneur is not a suspect.
Open referenced post
The ministry is not 'milking' anything; it is basically just state accounting. They are best at calculating. It is the same as in the private sector - accountants know the numbers best. I have 25 years of experience in this field. The difference is that the state is run by elected people, not knowledgeable business managers. That is why absurd nonsense is heard that 'accountants are to blame'. In a private company, the board does not do that, because that would mean the board are monkeys and the result is bankruptcy. Such a business ends.
From@Andrejs96162082@guntarsv @KBBergis In Ireland, if the salary is up to €1400 per month, no social and income tax is withheld from the employee; only the employer pays its social tax share (9%). FinMin should start learning to save, not just milk and borrow.
Open referenced post
I've spent too long in LV media to believe that this is a random discovery exactly 2 days before the elections🤔😅 I haven't been involved in this at all, but someone from their own circle has definitely run over Krauze with that tractor. https://t.co/48HIhF2kuZ
From@DelfiLVA new shiny tractor with connections to timber industry is basking in Krauze's farm,
Open referenced post
@pudzinsh I agree about the part of the funding coming from the state. It needs to be larger, considering the number of athletes and access to sport as such. Even the rich Norwegians do this. But not with the current management team. They have shown in the long run that they are not capable.
From@pudzinsh@CerinsAivis In the football world it is similar to Saeima elections, but the fact that here the LFF budget is the largest among all other sports means nothing, because elsewhere in the world it is among the smallest. In Latvia, the state contributes less to the football budget than to renes sports. ~15k children vs a dozen or so athletes.
Open referenced post
We have discussed this at the Ministry of Finance. As an entrepreneur, minimum contributions seem unfair to me, because not everyone works full time. But the counterarguments are also strong. First, very many people cheat in such situations - they record fewer hours than actually worked. We have to take into account what society is like. Second, knocking out an additional source of tax revenue in this situation, when the budget is dramatically in the red, is not very realistic. Third, the state somehow has to collect those minimum taxes to ensure social services.
From@KBBergisTime to eliminate the minimum social contributions! The mechanism distorts the system, is full of exceptions and caveats, and has not achieved the goals for which it was introduced. https://t.co/uoDbeIYVlD
Open referenced post
Very precise... that's exactly how it is. That is exactly why rules are being developed so that funding allocation is clear, so that it has usefulness and conditions for measuring that usefulness, and everything would be open and accessible. So that NGOs would not serve as political pocket organizations. Let NGOs serve real public interests.
From@katrinailjinskaData from LT and EE should be read from the UR, not ministries, but, as far as I know, in both neighboring countries they are not even the same. Remember the history of this issue in LV: I was the first to write that the state spends about 200 million on NGOs, about which the Civic Alliance got indignant, saying that it was not true, not that much. Looking at the data by ministries and programs separately, it can seem that way, because everywhere separately there are some small amounts, a few million each. But at that time I asked Lursoft for the data, and there, in the annual reports, they separate a separate column – subsidies and grants, 100% reliable data. Logically, if accountants post them correctly, then those data match the ministries that provide the funding. After that, the alliance decided to prove that it was not any 200 million, and also asked Lursoft for the data 😀 (they are on their website) and, of course, they matched mine. And only after that @AndrisKulbergs began to investigate and requested data from ministries on all transfers and, of course, the grant and subsidy data there are very similar, although smaller than according to Lursoft. Smaller because the budget data do not include municipal grants to NGOs, but the annual reports do. Consequently, from the state side you can count from whichever end you want, but it will still be 200 million a year, because accountants do not care at all what the program is called and what the source is on the state side. A grant is a grant. The problem is that this is still not everything that is spent on NGOs, because there are also other expenditures that often go as "economic activity", for example, the state buys "courses", that is no longer a grant. That is where the usefulness really has to be looked at...
Open referenced post
@liana_langa @Braze_Baiba I won't be able to comment on this specific post, the conversation that has been. I haven't participated in it. My position is clear - no Russian language in the public space. In personal life, everyone does as they wish.
From@liana_langa@CerinsAivis @Braze_Baiba What, please, is your comment on this? https://t.co/su5rQ04Soa
Open referenced post
I recommend reading @Braze_Baiba & her team's annotation of the failure, as a result of which the prime minister had to "deal" overnight in her place the sanctions case with Ireland and France. Service pensions for diplomats, however, are damn good. Why do they still exist, good question! https://t.co/LBbEktcNfC
From@RajevskisA very accurate assessment of Latvia's foreign policy operators https://t.co/wH57o6G4th
Open referenced post
From@AndrisKulbergsDay No. 85 in the prime minister's chair (Monday) – 💰 Parties — who promises more? 📊 Budget scenarios; 🇳🇵 News from Nepal The day was spent working with @MarisKucinskis, @Finmin and @Valstskase officials and managers, analysing state finances, economic forecasts, saving opportunities and various scenarios. 📊 Figures, data and facts: ➖ The financial policy and spending management of previous governments have long been irresponsible — the budget deficit has been kept at the maximum possible limit, regularly borrowing money also for everyday spending. Such an approach had become the norm, and the whole Latvian society and sectors have become accustomed to this model. ➖ In 2028, the largest budget deficit is forecast — €2.7 billion, or 5.4%! ➖ Just servicing the state debt, i.e. interest payments, will already cost €681 million next year. This money will have to be found somewhere — so somewhere less will have to be spent. Debt servicing costs have risen from €155 million in 2021 to €681 million in 2027, because the price of money has become significantly higher. ➖ By 2030, the budget plans adopted by New Unity's finance ministers and prime minister provide for a deficit of around €2 billion every year. That is not safe and sustainable management of state finances. ➖ The Siliņa government (JV) left behind decisions adopted in the Cabinet of Ministers or laws worth €421 million in 2027, and this amount rises to €663 million in 2030 — WITHOUT ANY FINANCIAL COVERAGE. Of which: 🏥 €264 million — for health care 👩🏫 €56 million — for teachers' salaries ➖ Latvia's current and forecast economic growth is stagnatingly low — around +2% a year, but its contribution to the budget is largely eaten up by forecast annual inflation of +3.5%. ➖ The largest increase in budget expenditure is for defence and security — +32%, amounting to around €2 billion a year. ➖ The state has long been programmed to live at the maximum permissible budget deficit, without reviewing existing expenditure and on top of that adding another +1.5% of borrowing for security, which the 🇪🇺EU allows to be additionally included in the deficit for three years. Conclusion? 👉We do not review existing budget expenditure. 👉We continue to live on debt. 👉And we borrow even more, because we are allowed to do so. That is not right. ➖ Also noteworthy is the manoeuvre of E. Siliņa's (JV) government, borrowing 1% from the 2nd pension level. That too will have to be paid back into the budget — an impact of around €280 million in 2029. ➖ Also in 2029, the term expires for the additional tax imposed on banks, i.e. the windfall tax. As a result, the state budget will also lose these additional revenues. ➖ One of the biggest problems in budget planning is politically adopted decisions to "tie" spending in specific sectors to a certain percentage — for example, 6% of GDP for health care — or to automatically index wages. If a budget expenditure is tied to a specific %, the whole expenditure part automatically increases as GDP or another variable grows — without any new government or Saeima decision. ✅ There is also good news. The Ministry of Finance and @kucinskis have been working since July, reviewing the ministries' base expenditure, and have already found €214 million in savings in the 2027 budget base. That is a step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of work to do. We must continue to optimise expenditure so that there is money to cover already planned and adopted commitments for which no revenues have been identified. 📕 One thing is clear to me — the next government will have to adopt an iron-fisted "2027–2030 FISCAL STABILITY AND REFORM PLAN", more precisely — a special law, similar to during Covid. The way out of this financial situation is not a simple spending-cutting plan. That will not be enough this time. 📈 The economy and budget revenues must be grown rapidly, with the main emphasis on the opportunities of export-capable companies. I believe this is possible, because such slow economic growth can and should be increased by at least +1.5 percentage points a year. That would give the budget an additional around €300 million in revenue. 💶 But we need to save already today — already for 2027. That is why the ministers agreed: ⛔ To stop the typical DECEMBER waste — meaninglessly spending the balances of ministries and institutions at the end of the year. ⛔ From 1 October, to suspend the conclusion of any new contracts and commitments. A similar moratorium as in the ICT area — if something is truly necessary, the need and usefulness must be proven. 🧊 To freeze salaries at the 2025 level. ⛔ To stop paying DECEMBER bonuses and extra payments — an exception may be allowed only for special achievements and with a manager's justification. ⛔ To stop unnecessary events, seminars, conferences, consultations and studies, as well as office and equipment renewal, IT and other investments that are not critically necessary. 🔍 Ministers must take political responsibility and, together with state secretaries and heads of institutions, review and justify any budget expenditure above €50,000. 🗳️ PARTIES — WHO PROMISES MORE? Given this stark budget reality and the legacy left in state finances, where even borrowing up to the maximum 🇪🇺EU-permitted budget deficit limit is not enough, the pre-election promises of political parties stand out in particular. They can no longer be measured in hundreds of millions — they are already measured in billions of euros, moreover without financial coverage and without a real economic growth offer. I have analysed the programmes of several political parties and summarised each party's promises in monetary terms for the period from 2027 to 2030. 🏆 The political "Promisers" record-holders for the next four years: 🥇 No.1 — Suverēnā Vara / Jaunlatvieši (Stepaņenko wants to give benefits, cut VAT, raise wages): +€3.61 billion 🥈 No.2 — @LatvijaPirmaja (@SlesersAinars – we lower VAT on everything): +€2.87 billion 🥉 No.3 — @ZZS_ (@ViktorsValainis — promising to abolish VAT): +€2.47 billion 4️⃣ @Progresivie (@suvajevs — because money grows on trees): +€2.1 billion 5️⃣ @Jauna_Vienotiba (@aseradens — we continue to borrow endlessly): +€1.56 billion 6️⃣ @tblv Nacionālā Apvienība — (wants to fund language, education, culture and fight illegal migration, without thinking about the ECONOMY): +€1.55 billion 7️⃣ @Apvienotais_ — main emphasis on education, which will pay off in the future, with a justification of where we will get the funding: +€763 million 🇳🇵 NEPAL In the Nepalese context — all those belonging to Latvia are still in the status of missing persons. According to the Civil Law, one must wait until April 2027 to change this status and relatives can start arranging the necessary documents. Until then — hope dies last. The Latvian government is ready to help in every possible way, if such a need arises.
Open referenced post
@liana_langa @AndrisKulbergs That is why, friend, because the committee now still has to do the work that IZM did not finish…
From@liana_langaLet me inform you a little about the political games, so that the work done by NA would not be visible before the elections: 1/ Amendments to the Higher Education Law were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on 8 September; on 11 September @AndrisKulbergs sent them to the education committee of party member Batņa. 2/ IZM asked to include them on the IKZK agenda, but that did not happen. 3/ On 17 September they were considered in the Saeima and referred for consideration to Batņa's committee. 4/ At the 21 September cooperation meeting, coalition partners agreed to review the law amendments before the elections. 5/ On 22 September, deputy Normunds Dzintars asked at the committee meeting to include [it] on the DK agenda; IT WAS REFUSED! 6/ Now [he] has scheduled consideration in the subcommittee on 6 October and in the committee on 13 October. WHY is that? Think, friend!
Open referenced post
From@TsahknaGood meeting today in Riga with Latvia’s justice minister @EdvardsSmiltens, covering everything from getting the Special Tribunal up and running to supporting Ukraine’s reconstruction. https://t.co/PZFJs9OrrC
Open referenced post
From@AndrisKulbergsAn open interview about what it's like to be prime minister and what needs to change in state administration to put Latvia back on the right track! 🇱🇻 Watch! 👇 https://t.co/b9WW1bNIop
Open referenced post
An open interview about what it's like to be prime minister and what needs to change in state administration to put Latvia back on the right track! 🇱🇻 Watch! 👇 https://t.co/b9WW1bNIop