Opposition members of the Saeima Economic, Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Policy Committee criticized delays in the adoption of the port governance reform on Wednesday, calling for a “fresh” perspective on the matter.
MP Jānis Vitenbergs (National Alliance) stated during the meeting that if the government cannot provide clarity on the issue, the Saeima must take the initiative. He emphasized that the port reform has remained unresolved for too long without results.
Meanwhile, MP Ainārs Šlesers (Latvia First) argued that the Ministry of Transport should not seek an entirely new model but should instead use the governance model of the Liepāja Special Economic Zone (SEZ) as a basis, which includes business representatives and has proven effective.
Transport Minister Atis Švinka (Progressives) explained that the new model for the ports of Riga and Ventspils envisions the establishment of supervisory boards with two representatives appointed by the state and two by the municipality. He noted that although various other mechanisms will allow business organizations to be involved in port governance, he believes that company representatives are not needed on the boards themselves.
Committee chairman Kaspars Briškens (Progressives) added that port boards have so far focused on operational decisions, which is why a new board structure is needed to focus on strategic decisions.
MP Andris Kulbergs (United List) pointed out that the governance issue has existed for six years and criticized the lack of a concise, well-structured overview at the meeting.
He called for a dedicated session to address the issue, highlighting the serious impact of port development on the national budget.
Švinka noted that Latvia’s ports must modernize to increase cargo volumes. “Since 2014, cargo turnover at Latvian ports has dropped by half, so investments are urgently needed — this is a matter of national importance,” the minister said.
According to Ministry of Transport data, in 2024 Latvian ports handled 36 million tons of cargo — a 51.5% decrease from 74.2 million tons in 2014.
The minister stressed the need to focus port development on cargo diversification, attracting investment, industrialization, increasing value added per ton of cargo, and job creation.
He emphasized the importance of moving forward with the port reform, stating: “The Ministry of Transport will gather objections and suggestions on the draft information report via the Legal Acts Portal. The goal is to submit the report to the Cabinet of Ministers in May.”
Švinka also noted that the Ministry of Economics has developed a Port Development Roadmap for major ports covering the next three years, which is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Transport. The roadmap outlines 48 projects with a total required funding of 3.206 billion euros — including a projected funding gap of 1.159 billion euros.
Deputies agreed that the next committee meeting will consider the draft law on port governance in its first reading and hear perspectives and presentations from both large and small ports.
As previously reported by LETA, the proposed port governance reform would primarily apply to the ports of Riga and Ventspils, as outlined in the Ministry of Transport’s draft information report on the “Progress and Improvement Opportunities of Port Governance Reform.”
Following lengthy consultations with industry experts and stakeholders, the Ministry proposes implementing the reform as a compromise solution, initially applying only to Riga and Ventspils. Governance changes in the Liepāja SEZ would only take effect after the 31st of December 2035, to ensure continued independence and avoid potential conflicts of interest from current business representatives influencing competitors.
This approach is based on the strong performance of the Liepāja SEZ and the need to preserve aspects of its proven and sustainable governance model.
The reform envisions maintaining the ports of Riga, Ventspils, and Liepāja as derived public persons, reducing political influence, and separating supervisory functions from operational management.
Additionally, port territory boundaries would be revised, separating operational port areas from special economic zone areas, with unified governance across both zones handled by the port boards and managers.
The reform also proposes changes to the governance model for small ports — simplifying and optimizing it by reducing board sizes, lowering administrative costs, and allowing municipalities to determine their port authority statutes independently.