Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has commenced an investigation in order to assess the compliance of the actions of Martin Gauss, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian national airline airBaltic, with the restrictions and prohibitions laid down in the Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Activities of Public Officials, including the prohibition to operate in a situation of conflict of interest, as reported by KNAB representatives.
KNAB points out that the office has received applications from private persons regarding the possible existence of a conflict of interest for Gauss.
In early January, the representative of the National Alliance (NA) Ģirts Lapiņš posted on social media that “Martin Gauss owns the German company “MaGau GmBH”, which in turn owns the company “2e systems GmBH”. This “2e systems” is a supplier to airBaltic”.
LETA has reached out to airBaltic for comments on this situation. The airline’s representatives are currently working on a response.
Information on the “2e systems” website shows that airBaltic and “2e systems” started a project in 2019 to expand and improve airBaltic’s online flight purchasing and booking solution. The teams concerned actively worked together to expand the existing online booking solution to support airBaltic’s growth plans.
As previously reported, on Monday, the 6th of January, parties of the ruling coalition in Latvia failed to decide on the replacement of the CEO of airBaltic Martin Gauss. Instead the government decided to wait for decisions from shareholder meetings.
After the meeting of the coalition, Prime Minister Evika Siliņa mentioned it is clear the airline is important to the state – it needs to provide transportation services to residents and do it well. “Unfortunately, the decision to cancel flights this year was not explained in full to us,” said Siliņa, adding that this announcement initially caused confusion within Latvian society.
The Latvian PM said the coalition trusts that on the shareholders meeting scheduled for the 21st of January the existing management of the airline will be properly evaluated.
Siliņa added that airBaltic generally works well and this work should continue.
At the same time, Siliņa criticised the airline’s communication regarding the cancellation of flights. She stressed that the cancellations and rescheduling will not affect as many residents as they initially thought. She stressed that flights are cancelled from time to time by various airlines.
“Such an announcement should have come in a more appropriate and comprehensible form,” said the PM, commenting on the cancelled airBaltic flights.
More on this topic: Latvian government slow to decide airBaltic CEO’s fate – delegates decision to shareholders
airBaltic carried a total of 4.536 million passengers in 2023, an increase of 35.7% compared to 2022, and 44 100 flights, an increase of 18.3% compared to the year before.
The audited turnover of airBaltic in 2023 was EUR 664.289 million, which is an increase of 33.2% compared to 2022. The company made a profit of EUR 33.852 million as opposed to losses a year earlier.
The Latvian state owns 97.97% of airBaltic shares, while financial investor, Danish entrepreneur Lars Tussen’s Aircraft Leasing 1 owns 2.03%.