To resolve the problems of Latvian national airline airBaltic and to ensure the company is able to operate successfully, the first order of business is replacing Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens and Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, said Saeima opposition member, leader of “Latvia in First Place” political party Ainārs Šlesers in an interview to Latvijas Radio.
He stressed that the aviation business is incredibly important to Latvia, but what is currently happening with airBaltic “mind-boggling”, because for years the government has not been able to define a clear action policy in relation to the company that they own.
When asked to what extent the CEO of airBaltic Martin Gauss could be blamed for the problems with the airline, the politician refrained from going into detail. Šlesers noted Gauss was the one who put the company together, but the government is afraid of firing him, because they understand they are not in complete control of the situation in the company. “I’m not saying Mr. Gauss should be fired. The one to get sacked first should be Briškens, who is the one who caused all the messes of the past one and a half years,” said Šlesers, who had once served as Latvia’s Minister of Transport as well.
According to him, Briškens is not in control of the situation and is unable to make decisions.
Even Prime Minister Evika Siliņa operates as a civil servant, unable to make decisions and define what is truly important to Latvia, Šlesers continued.
When asked to evaluate the work done by Martin Gauss, the opposition deputy said he would rather refrain from that. Instead he said he would evaluate the work of airBaltic, saying it is bad, because the company is operating with losses. “I believe the management of the company could be replaced, but the problem is the current government doesn’t know if there are any suitable replacements because they don’t know how to define goals,” said the opposition politician.
Šlesers said – if he were the PM, he would have clearly defined the goal for airBaltic, and it would not have been related to lease of new planes, rather the investment of finances into the attraction of foreign tourists to warm up Latvia’s economy.