As confirmed by the Latvian Railway (LDz) Council, chairman of the board of LDz Māris Kleinbergs has been dismissed from his post.
An open personnel selection process to find a new chairman will commence soon. Until then Rinalds Pļavnieks will serve as acting chairman of LDz. Vita Balode-Andrūsa will also remain in the company’s board.
LDz Council chairman Jānis Lange commented that Latvia’s transit sector has experienced strong turbulence these past several years, and LDz may be one Latvian company that has had to change the most drastically. «LDz has accomplished much over the course of these years. The company has increased overall efficiency and has reduced the overall administrative burden. As a result of this, LDz’s overall operational costs are approximately EUR 40 million lower than they were before these processes had commenced,» said Lange.
However, for the company to be able to continue operating in a sustainable manner, it is necessary to think about efficiency, cost optimisation and growth even in situations
when it seems difficult or almost impossible to find opportunities for growth, added Lange.
He also explained that the council has had multiple discussions with the board of LDz as to the planned development strategy for the future, ways to increase international and local freight transports, as well as the optimal role LDz could play in the replacement and creation of a 1 435 mm railway infrastructure and its management in the future.
«At the end we concluded that the visions LDz Council and board chairman Kleinbergs have in regards to the future of LDz are too different. This is why LDz council decided to dismiss him from his position in the company,» said Lange.
LTV programme Panorāma previously reported, with reference to unofficial sources, that the company’s council members were unhappy with Kleinbergs’ work.
Kleinbergs was in charge of LDz board since April 2020, according to data from Firmas.lv. According to LETA archive, Kleinbergs was re-elected to his position on the 12th of August 2019.
LDz is the company in charge of maintenance of public use railway infrastructure. It is laso the leading company of Latvian Railway concern. The concern includes companies like LatRailNet, LDz Cargo, LDz Rolling Stock Service, LDz Security, LDz Logistics and LDz Infrastructure. The latter filed for liquidation in May 2022.
LDz Concern’s total turnover in 2021 was EUR 249.177 million, which is 1.9% less when compared with 2020. Profits reached EUR 3.909 million when compared with losses suffered the year prior.
LDz was registered in 1991 with base capital of EUR 327 621 636.