The Latvian Senior Communities Association (LSKA) welcomes the initiative by the organization Tiesiskums.lv regarding the recovery of illegally collected mandatory electricity purchase component (OIK) fees, as well as the involvement of the Latvian Pensioners’ Federation in organizing regional forums and informing seniors about their options to reclaim this money.
According to LSKA, the initiative by Tiesiskums.lv is important as it clearly demonstrates that those responsible for illegal and society-damaging actions must eventually be held accountable. Publicly available information shows that government officials were aware of the illegality of OIK collection as early as 2017, when the European Commission stated that unlawful state aid to a narrow group of electricity producers violated the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
The conclusion that requiring every electricity user in Latvia to pay OIK was unlawful is also supported by the the 10th of January, 2019 statement of the Saeima, which called on the Ministry of Economics to “end an unfair regime imposed on Latvian residents that served the interests of a few,” the association points out.
The association recalls that the so-called “OIK scheme” was also recognized as contrary to the principles of a democratic state governed by the rule of law by the Parliamentary Investigative Committee on the OIK Case. Its final report in 2020 stated:
“The OIK scheme is linked to deliberate actions by the state administration within a flawed legal framework,
knowing the potential consequences. Such actions contradict the interests of society and the principles of the rule of law in a democratic state.”
LSKA believes it is unacceptable that despite these acknowledgements, the OIK scheme continued operating unimpeded until the 1st of January, 2023, and that no one has been held accountable.
The public has still not received an explanation as to why the collection of OIK payments from households and businesses did not stop when the European Commission found them incompatible with the EU Treaty, nor why Latvia failed to contest this decision. In LSKA’s view, Latvian residents are not wealthy enough to give away their money to satisfy the interests of a few OIK businessmen.
As a cooperation partner of the Latvian Pensioners’ Federation (LPF), LSKA supports the statement made by LPF chairwoman Aija Barča, emphasizing that the demand to compensate people for illegally collected OIK payments is also a demand for state officials at all levels to take responsibility for their decisions. Furthermore, LSKA believes that laws should be amended to increase the legal accountability of state officials for their actions and enhance the public’s ability to obtain real compensation for damages caused.
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