Latvian Political Monitor

KNAB will launch an internal review of the Prime Minister's pre-election activities in Kurzeme.

@gatisliepin What is the name of that party that brought down the government because of Rinkēvičs' ambitions and pulled back into the government (!!!) the pocket party of the oligarch, the collaborator Lemberga, who is on the Magnitsky list? I very much hope and expect an honest answer. Will there be?

Here is ZZS's broader view on why the hospital reform is the biggest mistake of Kulbergs' government and should be changed. https://t.co/iBIPFkGHif

He was asked a specific question - what were the prime minister and ministers doing at a campaign event on a workday? At a time when they were supposed to be performing the exact duties for which they receive a salary and other state resources. And please, Žaklīn, don't beat around the bush. A specific situation, a specific question @AndrisKulbergs - a clear, comprehensive and honest answer. Without dodging, manipulative blame-shifting, vulgarly answering a question with a counter-question, and other usual tricks.

Kulbergs names political forces with which he categorically rejects cooperation.

No, that is the model of supporting one's own people practiced in the 90s. In my time as Minister of Transport, some had such a desire. The votes of individual ZZS deputies supporting the opposition's proposed resignations clearly marked that.

LPV, AS and NA. This would not be the best coalition for Latvia after the Saeima elections in the autumn! https://t.co/5YD6EXttok

Tomorrow, August 11, the closed part of the government meeting will consider a draft order on co-financing for SIA 'Airline Company Liepāja'. The Liepāja airport, in addition to its own revenues, is already currently funded by the Liepāja municipality, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (AiM) and the Ministry of Transport (SM). Could @AndrisKulbergs and Defense Minister R. Melnis provide clarification: - How much additional funding is planned to be reallocated to Liepāja airport from the defense budget? - Can Ventspils airport, ports, military mobility transport infrastructure objects (e.g., Jēkabpils bridge), as well as border-area media and associations also count on similar support? - Is this decision also related to the recent Friday 'working visit' to Liepāja? There is no doubt that a sustainable financing model for Liepāja airport must be found. At the same time, dispel concerns that this is not a continuation of the model of supporting one's own, but that defense resources are available to all Latvian regions and for strengthening defense resilience.

No, Žaklīna, in this case it's not about my modest personality. It's about the fact that prime ministers and governments change, but the shameless theft of state resources continues. And clinical arrogance just the same. Now let's see - @AndrisKulbergs will be brave enough to confess or, in the 'best' traditions, will start bending and finding culprits outside - @ivchix, journalists, foreign agents, spies, and tooth fairies.

Such a prime minister's response marks the next coalition that everyone is already talking about behind the scenes: AS, NA, LPV. So much in common - denunciation of the Istanbul Convention, support for quick loans, golden visas and deforestation. And now they will jointly fight against that 'European influence'. https://t.co/xpa427EoGa

Once I asked @Kulbergs about some mess that his friend @EdvardsSmiltens had again gotten into. Smiltēns, genuinely surprised, retorted - What's so terrible, we did that regularly in 'Unity'. But at that moment he had long been the head of the unsuccessful small party LRA. (now a political filler @Apvienotais_ ) The moral is simple - you can drive a person out of 'Unity', but never 'Unity' out of a person.

Kulbergs sees problems for cooperation with LPV, but does not yet draw the 'red line' (26)

The idle ones have managed to call this an 'illegal visit'. Hats off to @AndrisKulbergs for managing to visit all this in a day. https://t.co/MYBOcmLAzz

Day No. 53 in the prime minister's chair (Friday, Aug 7) – unofficial visit to Liepāja, Grobiņa, Nīca 😊 I visited entrepreneurs, manufacturers, farmers, municipal deputies, market ladies, residents, the crazy Liepāja folk ⚙️ RK Metal – Grobiņa A modern metalworking company with around 200 employees producing high-level metal structures, equipment, and specialized solutions for export. Here the problem of labor costs was again very clearly voiced. 🤒 From the entrepreneurs' point of view, a big problem is the abuse of the sick leave system and how much of the sick period is covered by the employer. ⏱ The second topic – 100% surcharge for overtime and complex bureaucracy to introduce more flexible solutions in the company. By comparison, we also talked about 🇸🇪Sweden, where in some cases the overtime surcharge model is more flexible. A welder's salary in Latvia has already approached the level I once saw in 🇳🇱 the Netherlands, having worked 13 years in the equipment manufacturing industry. This shows very well how serious the skilled labor problem has become in Latvia. ❤️ RŪRE Care Home This was a very personal visit for me. RŪRE once allowed my cousin Mārtiņš Lauva to live out his last days with dignity and helped fulfill his final wishes. That is why I know the value of mobile hospice services not from documents but personally. And I am seriously concerned that the Ministry of Health's ill-considered planning and conditions could jeopardize a system that Latvia could rightly be proud of in recent years. RŪRE has simultaneously taken on a huge risk by developing five regional healthcare centers in Kurzeme in a short time. The problem is again the same – delayed state planning, extremely short deadlines and bureaucracy. As a result, there is a risk of not using millions of euros of 🇪🇺EU funding. 🏗 Liepāja SEZ – industrial park on the former 'Metalurgs' territory We talked about: ➖️ industrial territory development; ➖️ military industry opportunities; ➖️ new production plants; ➖️ labor availability. In Liepāja unemployment is historically very low – around 4%, with only about 1,737 unemployed people. That's good, but it creates another problem for entrepreneurs – there is no one to hire. There is a particular shortage of technical specialists. Here the weakness of our education system in STEM subjects – mathematics, physics, engineering – is strongly felt. 🏠 The second problem – the lack of housing stock. Even if a company finds a specialist in another Latvian city, the person often has nowhere normal to live in Liepāja. Among development projects – also YOKOHAMA's plan to create a tire plant in addition to the existing alloy wheel production. 📦 CALJAN – from Liepāja to the whole world This is one of the companies Latvia should truly be proud of. CALJAN produces high-level logistics and small-parcel conveyor systems for global clients such as: Amazon, FedEx, UPS, DPD, DHL, Walmart and others. 🌍 About 30,000 units have already been delivered worldwide. And the most impressive thing – the company has relocated its: ➖️ R&D; ➖️ engineering; ➖️ production; ➖️ head office from 🇸🇪 Sweden to Liepāja. This is exactly the Latvian economic model I want to see more of – not cheap labor, but knowledge, engineering, technology and global exports. 👷 CALJAN employs around 410 people. But they too can no longer find enough workers in Latvia. About 40 people are already being hired through a 🇱🇹Lithuanian labor leasing company – including engineers, programmers and electricians from 🇮🇳 India and the Philippines. And the money for labor intermediation goes to Lithuanian companies, not stays in Latvia. 🏛 Meeting at Liepāja City Council @liepaja With the city leadership we discussed: ➖️ The Local Government Financial Equalization Fund; ➖️ Liepāja's development; ➖️ The Port Law and its further progress. ✈️ NORSAF – green aviation fuel project A very ambitious idea – producing future synthetic aviation fuel in Liepāja using green hydrogen. 🇪🇺 In the coming years, aviation will face increasingly strict requirements for sustainable aviation fuel blending – in 2030, 2035, 2040 and beyond. At the moment, however, the technology is still extremely expensive. 💶 Approximate: ➖️ new fuel – €7,000/t; ➖️ traditional Jet Fuel – around €1,500/t; ➖️ before the Hormuz crisis – around €600–800/t. This shows how huge a technological and economic leap is still needed. 🥒 Liepāja Market I'll be honest – I liked it more than Rīga Central Market. 😄 Cozier, more Latvian, and with a feeling that there are more local producers. In the shopping basket: 🍞 very good bread baked in Liepāja; 🍗 Rubeņi smoked chicken; 🥒 lightly salted cucumbers; 🍄 and, of course, chanterelles – because I have no time to go to the forest myself. ☹️ 📺 In between, also an interview with Liepāja TV. - about MP compensation 🏭 Liepāja Papīrs An impressive Latvian-level plant specializing in printing adhesive labels. 👷 Around 120 employees. The company invests very actively in modern production equipment and automation. Not because they don't want people, but because there simply aren't any. Training a new specialist takes up to two years. Hence, the labor shortage effectively forces companies to invest in technologies that allow them to produce more with fewer workers. 📦 Due to the Hormuz Strait conflict, the company has purchased about twice as much paper stock to ensure continuity of production. This in turn means more money frozen in the warehouse and pressure on production costs. 🖨 FORTIUS – printing house A smaller local printing and labeling company. And such companies are also very necessary – almost every city needs its own local printer that can quickly serve small and individual orders. 🥛 Kazdanga company “Baltu Piens” Two enterprising women joined forces, mortgaged their properties and used ALTUM financing to buy a farm. This story is also personally close to me, because my wife's parents live in Kazdanga. But the numbers raise very serious questions. 💶 The loan principal has been repaid about €50,000, but €39,713 has already been paid in interest. The interest rate – almost 9%. Moreover, to review the loan repayment schedule, ALTUM requires an additional fixed payment of 0.5% of the remaining amount. Then my question is simple: Is ALTUM's task not to be a state development financial institution that helps companies grow? If state funding conditions weaken a company more than help it develop, something is wrong with the system. Moreover, the new farm managers still need to invest about €459,000 in treatment facilities that the previous owners had not fixed. 🏎 Garage 1965 – Latvian rally history museum For all petrolheads – a must-see! 🔥 A very enjoyable museum. In Liepāja not only 'the wind is born' – there are very deep roots of Latvian rally and motorcycle sport. 👥 Meeting with Liepāja residents at the Latvian Society House 👥 Meeting with residents in Nīca 🧀 Nīca cheese and ZS “Skrodis” Again the seasonal labor problem. Vegetable and berry growers need people for specific seasonal work, but existing rules make attracting labor extremely complicated and expensive. Entrepreneurs point out that the set €1,700 salary threshold for attracting foreign labor for this type of work is too high and, given current agricultural product prices, makes production costs uncompetitive. And the reality in the countryside is harsh – local people often cannot be found even for such pay. Young people simply don't come to cut cabbage or pick berries. 🧀 But the cheese – seriously – one of the best I've tasted in Latvia. 🌅 End of the day – Red Sun Buffet Beach Bar Meeting with the owner, who has run a family business on the Liepāja seaside for 17 seasons, working both summer and winter. Here, too, the reality of the Latvian labor market is very clearly visible. 🇺🇦 Ukrainian families work at the company, engaging in work across several generations. They serve clients in Latvian, but the Ukrainian women have also introduced their own delicious traditions to the menu. 🎶 And every evening – live music with high-level musicians. What did I take from these two regional days? 🇱🇻 In Latvia we have fantastic entrepreneurs, farmers and manufacturers. They invest. Take risks. Export. Invent. Build factories. Take over markets. Create jobs. But at almost every stop I heard the same words: ⚠️ bureaucracy; ⚠️ labor shortage; ⚠️ tax and labor costs; ⚠️ slow state decisions; ⚠️ ill-considered regulation; ⚠️ difficulties obtaining financing; ⚠️ officials' fear of taking responsibility. The state's task should not be to train entrepreneurs in an obstacle course. The state's task is to create an environment where a person ready to risk, invest and create jobs can do so. For me, such visits are far more valuable than dozens of presentations in Rīga. Because only in a factory, in a field, in a warehouse, on a farm or at an entrepreneur's table can you understand what actually works in Latvia and what urgently needs fixing. @Apvienotais_

@ivchix @AndrisKulbergs No, I got those 'trophies' even earlier. I was around Jūrkalne on Wednesday and Thursday, and on Friday I joined the Kurzeme campaign bus - we are visiting several companies. P.S. There was no minister on the bus, nor even the prime minister.