Unofficial sources indicate that the Ministry of Transport (SM) intends to reappoint senior official Inguna Strautmane as the Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Port, despite serious concerns from industry experts and business representatives regarding her previous work and decisions. The Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) party has previously opposed Strautmane’s candidacy as well.
Although Strautmane was nominated for reappointment to the position of Chairman during the tenure of Kaspars Brikšens, the matter never made it onto the government agenda. Objections to Strautmane’s candidacy have come not only from entrepreneurs and industry experts but also from the ZZS, as previously reported by LTV’s “de Facto” program, where the party does not consider the Ministry of Transport representative to be sufficiently competent.
Asked about the Ministry of Transport’s desire to reappoint Inguna Strautmane to the Ventspils Port board, which has met with strong opposition from entrepreneurs, ZZS Chairman Armands Krauze emphasized the importance of the port’s development, with leadership that can cooperate with and listen to the entrepreneurs.
“I have already said this, but I won’t hesitate to repeat it – entrepreneurs, not board members, are the ones who actually bring cargo to the port, provide jobs to port workers, pay taxes to the state budget, and, with their work, sustain the entire port management. Ventspils Port is increasingly close to total collapse, and this means its previous leadership cannot be called professional,” said Armands Krauze.
Earlier, Krauze also pointed out to BNN: “We cannot appoint someone to the port board whose candidacy is opposed by entrepreneurs and with whom cooperation is impossible. After all, the state and the municipality manage the port so that entrepreneurs can conduct business – so that the port has turnover and brings profit to the state.”
Strautmane’s reappointment raises questions about whether the new Minister of Transport, Atis Švinka, will continue the mistakes of his predecessor and ignore the views of industry professionals.
There is dissatisfaction among entrepreneurs and experts – they believed that the new leadership at the Ministry of Transport would find better solutions and implement changes that would ensure the development of Latvia’s ports and their international competitiveness. However, it appears that hopes for positive change may prove to be in vain if the same officials, who have not yet proven themselves as effective leaders, are once again nominated.