The recent events with Latvian Post came about due to the inaction from the Ministry of Transport, said the Vice-President of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance in Latvia Andris Grafs in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds.
He explained that with Latvian Post the cause of the problem is that the Ministry of Transport has not completed its homework in regards to defining the company’s strategic goals and role in the national economy.
Grafs also said there are so-called shareholder or owner expectations when it comes to realisation of specific goals, such as provision of a specific service, very rapid growth or exploration of export markets.
“The Ministry of Transport has not defined these expectations. And this has resulted in an unclear role,” said Grafs, adding that the company was not given a clearly-defined direction to follow. This is why there was this “collision”.
On Wednesday, the 7th of February, the council of Latvian Post stepped down.
Latvian Post council members – chairman Raimonds Dūda and council member Ivars Blumbergs – explained they decided to step down because cooperation and cooperation with the Ministry of Transport ended up in a dead end and was not focused on constructive work to accomplish the goal and develop a competitive company.
“Therefore, the type, style and channels of communication chosen by the office of the Minister of Transport in recent weeks are striking and incomprehensible. Instead of resolving important issues directly with the company, they publish updates on social networks. The shock and public request published by the minister’s office on social network was just as unexpected, specifically the request to explain the cost of the company’s best employee awards event, which the Ministry of Transport had previously seen and approved,” the statement from the company’s council mentioned.
At the same time, Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens said in recent days the ministry received information about multiple cost positions of Latvian Post.
“One of these cost positions concerned the training trip of the chairman of the council of Latvian Post last year, which exceeded EUR 25 000,” said the minister. The minister also mentioned that the losses of Latvian Post branch office in Carnikava, for example, was EUR 12 000 – EUR 14 000 last year. “This means it would have been possible to preserve two post offices in Carnikava if the council chairman hadn’t spent that money on his training trip,” said the minister.
He also mentioned the cost of the event organised for Latvian Post employees, which exceeded EUR 180 000. “We support events for employees, but we don’t support such extravagant costs,” stressed Briškens.
At the same time, the acting state secretary to the Ministry of Transport Ligita Austrupe told journalists that the vision held by the council of Latvian Post was significantly different from that of the ministry. This is why the decision was made to terminate their cooperation. She also said that the ministry would not have continued cooperation even if the council of Latvian Post had not stepped down on its own.
It is also reported that the Latvian Post decided to put the reorganisation plan that provided for the closure of 105 of 176 postal offices on hold.
Also hold: Council of Latvian Post steps down
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Grafs: the recent events with Latvian Post is due to inaction from Ministry of Transport
