A majority of MPs today voted down the opposition’s draft decision to express no confidence in Minister of Transport Atis Švinka (Progressives) during a Saeima sitting.
The motion for dismissal was initiated by opposition MPs over issues concerning the provision of regional public transport bus services.
Forty-seven MPs voted against the dismissal, while 45 supported Švinka’s removal. Independent MP Igors Rajevs abstained.
Two coalition MPs — Uldis Augulis (Union of Greens and Farmers) and Jānis Vucāns (Union of Greens and Farmers) — also supported Švinka’s dismissal.
Opposition MP Andris Kulbergs (United List) said before the vote that the minister indeed faces a very difficult task resolving issues “cooked up” during the tenure of former transport minister Tālis Linkaits. At the same time, he stressed the need to find solutions that would avoid reductions in regional routes.
He warned that
failing to address regional public transport issues may lead to a situation where no service providers remain at all.
Kulbergs criticised the idea of introducing on-demand transport, arguing that such a service would be underused.
“The service will have to pay for itself,” Kulbergs said, expressing doubt that the sustainability of the proposal had been assessed. “This is an absurd way for the state to get involved in commercial business,” he added, saying that the plan would also harm existing commercial carriers.
Kulbergs argued that the current contracts must be reviewed and mistakes made during Linkaits’ time corrected.
Independent MP Viktorija Pleškāne said that every MP had a duty to support the dismissal request, claiming that “with a minister and attitude like Švinka’s there will be no sector, no public transport, no roads, no ports.”
She said
the minister’s response to the inquiry did not ease concerns but instead proved that the crisis was deeper.
“This vote is about conscience and your voters. This is not a reform — it is absurdity at the expense of taxpayers,” she said, pointing out that Švinka had admitted that changes to the route network were approved before data analysis was completed — in her view, a “blatant management violation.”
Kaspars Briškens (Progressives) argued that Švinka was not the right addressee of the MPs’ inquiry. He said that in the Saeima Economic Affairs Committee he has seen political forces motivated by autocentrism.
After starting work at the Transport Ministry, Briškens said he discovered how unsustainable the current regional public transport financing model is.
“The ministry is put in the role of a humble beggar every year, searching at year’s end for the missing tens of millions of euros from contingency funds just to fulfil very predictable obligations to bus carriers and compensate their losses,” he said.
According to him,
the Progressives inherited “an extremely problematic legacy”
— unfavourable second-generation transport contracts for the state, Competition Council findings of possible collusion among carriers, chaotic large-scale route cancellations, uncoordinated timetables, and a non-functioning unified ticketing platform.
Briškens said that regardless of reforms, without additional investment the ministry would remain trapped in a cycle of annual optimisation to stay within its subsidy limits. He noted that the finance minister has not yet honoured his promise — the reform is being implemented, but additional funding is not following.
Ilze Indriksone (National Alliance) said that reductions in bus routes are already being felt and will decrease public transport usage even further, eventually leading to route closures. She stressed that decisions must consider people’s ability to reach essential services, not just “mathematics and numbers.”
Explaining his vote to LETA, Augulis emphasized that reductions in regional public transport are much larger than the publicly stated 16%. In Vidzeme, the cut is 23.6%; in Madona municipality around 30%; and on the Ogre and Aizkraukle routes the number of journeys has fallen from 530 to 281 — a 53% reduction.
Such a situation severely affects residents’ ability to reach doctors and other services,
he said.
Augulis noted that the minister has not offered the faction or the Saeima a convincing solution for next year, only expressing hope for help from the Finance Ministry. Talks with municipalities have not taken place, and municipal leaders are preparing a letter to the Saeima, the Prime Minister, and committees, stressing that such a rapid reduction in services is unacceptable.
He also criticised ideas to create a new state-owned transport company under the Road Transport Administration and the concept of on-demand transport, saying that both lack sufficient justification.
Augulis said the minister does not control his sector and that meetings with carriers and unions are expected soon to further assess the situation.
Addressing MPs, Švinka said that the public transport issue had been inherited from former ministers Tālis Linkaits and Jānis Vitenbergs (National Alliance).
Švinka emphasised that previous ministers had signed public transport contracts with 11 carriers across 16 lots
— seven contracts in 2020, two in 2021, seven in 2023, and two through direct awards in 2024.
This year the 2020 contracts were indexed; next year the 2021 contracts will be. He criticised the four-year indexation mechanism, calling it a mistake because the contracts were drafted without considering market fluctuations.
Carriers who signed contracts in 2023 already knew the economic situation and offered dumping prices, he stated.
Švinka stressed that contracts should have included annual indexation and different bus requirements to ensure service quality. He urged carriers unable to fulfil contracts to agree to terminate them, allowing the Road Transport Administration to launch new procurements under better conditions and with improved driver pay.
The public needs carriers that provide safe and quality service, he said.
Švinka stressed that kilometre prices were set under free-market conditions and are not regulated by the state, so the minister cannot change them. He plans to launch new procurements suited to current market conditions, seek legal frameworks for compensating losses, begin digitalisation, develop commercial and regional transport strategies, and introduce on-demand transport under the Social Climate Fund.
The no-confidence motion arose from the opposition’s concerns over reductions in regional bus services.
MPs from Latvia First had formally requested that Švinka explain and justify decisions related to significant cuts in public transport routes — especially regional bus lines — warning that these decisions could have serious consequences in rural areas where public transport is vital for mobility.
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