The Ministry of Transport has failed to appoint its representative, ministry employee Inguna Strautmane, to the Ventspils Freeport Board for the next term, LTV’s De Facto programme reported on the 23rd of February. Previously, business representatives surveyed by BNN had also strongly opposed her candidacy.
“How is it possible to regulate the sector if an official is repeatedly appointed to a position despite not contributing to the development and growth of ports? Industry representatives—stevedores and associations—have complained about her, yet the requests of industry experts are ignored. Does this approach not cause stagnation at a time when the state has every opportunity to promote port growth?” Business representatives expressed such and even harsher opinions to BNN regarding Inguna Strautmane’s work on the Ventspils Freeport Board.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens, just days before his resignation request, admitted on the De Facto program that, as a minister, he had supported the candidacy of the current Ventspils Port Board Chairwoman, Mrs. Strautmane, but this issue had not reached the government’s agenda.
According to De Facto, unofficial sources suggested that objections to the reappointment of the current Ventspils Port Board chairperson came from the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS). The party does not consider the ministry’s representative competent enough, aligning with criticism previously voiced by former Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs.
In one of his Facebook posts, Lembergs criticized “appointees from Riga parties,” claiming that their presence had led to a decline in cargo volumes at the Ventspils port. However, the former mayor did not mention that this decline began when he was included in the US sanctions list and was further affected by the war in Ukraine.
Guntis Blumbergs, Deputy Chairman of the Ventspils City Council, who frequently attends ZZS meetings in the Saeima building, emphasized that the cargo decline at the Ventspils port had occurred precisely under the leadership of the Ministry of Transport. Blumbergs also criticized the planned port reform proposed by the government, which intends to grant the Ministry of Transport the decisive vote in disputed matters within port boards.
BNN previously reported that during Strautmane’s tenure, the decline in cargo volume had been dramatic. When she assumed the role of Ventspils Freeport Board Chairwoman in 2019, the cargo turnover at the port was 20.5 million tons. By 2024, it had dropped to only 8.2 million tons. While it is possible to attribute this to the complex geopolitical situation, the Liepāja port, under similar geopolitical conditions, maintained steady growth, and Latvia’s major competitors—Klaipėda and Tallinn ports—show an upward trend in cargo volume.