Latvian Political Monitor

@E_Stendzenieks @andrislov You won't manage to introduce any inheritance tax, Erik😁 Just as you won't realize your own advertised flash action to rake Lenin's logs into pension savings.

@GEd1505 @Raivis40118307 @Apvienotais_ Exactly 🎯

🇱🇻 Today Latvia did not support the draft decision prepared by the Irish presidency. The situation is not simple. Extending sanctions requires the consent of all 27 EU member states. If no agreement is reached by the deadline, the retention of sanctions for the entire list is endangered, not just for Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman. Extending sanctions for 36 months would be the right step. However, the price for that must not be the simple removal of both individuals from the sanctions list. Latvia cannot accept such an offer. 🇪🇺 Therefore, tomorrow together with Foreign Minister @Braze_Baiba we will work with Brussels and Paris to find a solution that MATCHES Latvia's interests. We will seek support for Latvia's position WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION. I have convened an extraordinary Cabinet meeting for tomorrow on this matter. 🇺🇦 While Russia continues the war, European pressure must become stronger, not more comfortable for the Kremlin.

All correct, you just haven't fully completed the courses. Tax reduction is not possible until you defeat the communists and take their money away. Those taxes have long been distributed in 'free' services, which the communists happily receive. Otherwise, bad things happen. If taxes are reduced without taking away the communist's 'free' morsel, the communists keep spending, but the state goes bankrupt. I do not want our country to go bankrupt the way the Soviet republics' family did. They were handing everything out for free until they went bankrupt. I urge you to continue lifelong learning and you will eventually get a diploma and receive my congratulations🙂

@ivchix The financial situation there is very sad and continues to worsen. The final outcome is not far off, he can say whatever he wants there.

@ernestsd Claims from local producers about the bio-additive are already starting. We'll sort it out, a meeting is planned. There is not only a budget impact.

A political trap. ZZS now needs ratings like food. So they thought up promising all the earthly bananas and dividing them into petty handouts. Vienotība is right there. There’s no longer any need to worry about the budget, why not dig the hole even deeper? So it turns out that if AS were against, they would raise their ratings with their handouts. Because everyone understands that the voter is red up to the earlobe. So I don’t condemn it, political logic played out correctly, but that doesn’t help how I feel. My job is to look for ways to reduce squandering. Today two steps back.

I understand the provocative nature of the question. But I have supported this for many years. The goal is to collect more VAT by bringing part of the industry out of the shadows. A time-limited measure. If it doesn't happen in 2 years, we put it back. But it would apply to restaurants with serving staff. No burgers - those are factories with stamped products and they are fine.

Day No. 76 in the prime minister's seat (Tuesday) – Cabinet meeting already with -1 minister 😏 I returned from Lapland, but the Cabinet of Ministers has become one minister smaller during this time. 🏛️ Cabinet meeting – getting more and more amusing. The approach of elections can already be felt in almost every coalition partnership. The first government meeting with -1 minister – Uzulnieks is replaced by Augulis, but since Valainis is on a business trip, Augulis actually represented as many as 3 ZZS ministries today. 😄 🌾🚂🇷🇺 grains and Latvian farmers' exports We adopted a decision to increase the railway infrastructure fee for 🇷🇺 grain cargo. Our priority – export of Latvian farmers' products and the competitiveness of our own entrepreneurs. 📏 60 m² of land and the absurdity of bureaucracy Today I learned about yet another bureaucratic nonsense. The state is disposing of 60 m² of land, for which the owner is paid approximately €23, because that is the value of the land. But to carry out this transaction: ➖️ an appraisal costs about €200–300; ➖️ land surveying – another €1000–2000; ➖️ additionally, surveyor costs come on top. This is total nonsense. I tasked the Minister of Justice, Mr. Smiltēns, to immediately look for a solution and remove this unnecessary bureaucracy in cases where such small plots of land are involved. 🚌 €9.8 million to intercity bus operators We adopted a decision to pay bus operators €9.8 million in debt for intercity bus services. This problem has been dragging on unresolved for more than the tenure of two transport ministers of the previous government. At the same time, I tasked the Minister of Transport to bring a long-term solution already in October. Companies must know under what rules to work and how to plan their business further – they cannot live in uncertainty every year. 🎙️ LDDK/LTRK prime ministerial debates @AlvisHermanis1 did not come to the debate. Pity, because this was the right place to defend your ideas and position. I specifically wanted to hear: ➖️ what his plan for Latvia's economic growth is; ➖️ how to attract more investment; ➖️ how to increase Latvia's exports. I also find interesting the publicly voiced reproaches to LDDK and @LTRK_uznemeji about labor migration. Here, however, one should rely on facts, not loud slogans. 📊 Looking at the data on the so-called "pseudo student" problem, it is concentrated in specific universities – and @RostovskisA Turība is not among them. Whereas @darbadeveji itself does not in any way promote illegal migration. Also, for example, the Karavela led by @AndrisBite employs third-country workers legally and in a relatively small volume – mainly because in Latvia there simply are not people willing to do such physically demanding work. 👉 Migration must be discussed seriously. But more importantly – based on data, facts, and the real situation, not statements.

@normundsbergs There is already something in stock now. Soon we will meet and discuss options what to buy more or some other solution. Approximately 12 million needed. Useful thing for the economy. On top of economic losses over 200 million, not to mention social, this is a no brainer.

I will please my ill-wishers. I feel this bad for the first time in these months. Spending millions pointlessly in one day is very, very bleak. I see every day how difficult it is to scrape together even a few million for a good initiative (recently we gave a few more million for palliative care), but like this... and everything goes to waste in one go. Damn😏

Violence is incompatible with the office of a judge. Position, status, or authority cannot serve as a cover for violent conduct. ❗️ In connection with publicly reported information regarding Zemgale Regional Court judge Raimonds Rincs' possible violence against his wife, I have requested his written explanation. It must be provided by September 23, and after evaluating all circumstances, I will decide whether to initiate disciplinary proceedings. Society entrusts a judge with the power to judge the actions and fates of others. Therefore, he himself must adhere to the highest professional ethics and conduct standards – not only in the courtroom, but also outside it. The publicly reported allegations are very serious, and they must not go without careful examination and appropriate action.

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.

@GEd1505 @Raivis40118307 @Apvienotais_ It has been bombed and is currently unusable, and it is not even known how quickly it can be restored. The biggest problem is that Plan B does not work.

I am against any migration, but according to @suvajevs logic, migrants who illegally cross the state border and who are integrated in Russian at state expense by Gātere, Lāce and Raubiško are the good ones, but those who would enter legally and buy an apartment for half a million are the bad ones. What hypocrisy.

On TikTok, they're telling at length how bad the Waterfront project is. I agree, Andris! But… it's a project accepted by the Riga municipality, and the municipality is currently led by the mayor from Progresīvie. So maybe you should also do something—fight, cancel the permits, and don't build the infrastructure…

I agree. The loud prattling has helped erode public trust in the authorities. But it has never been high in most of the former Eastern Bloc countries. Just as they didn't believe during Soviet times, they don't believe now. A more recent example from Germany. The populist AfD is 2+ times more popular in the former East Germany than, for example, in Bavaria. The paradox is that the same immigrant problem is 2 times more pronounced in the rich federal states than in the former East Germany.