Opinion piece
Latvian Ministry of Transport is preparing to extend the term of the ministry’s deputy state secretary Inguna Strautmane in the management board of Ventspils Freeport despite the fact that during her term the freight turnover had suffered a dramatic decline. This outcome casts a shadow over her competence and fitness for the post. Considering that it was Minister of Transport Kaspars Briškens who pushed Strautmane as a candidate on multiple occasions, there are justified doubts whether the minister is even interested in the situation of Latvia’s biggest ports and whether or not he is prepared to do anything to save the situation.
If the Ministry of Transport truly wants to enhance Latvia’s economy and improve management, it would make more sense to announce a selection process to find a candidate capable of offering new and effective ideas that would improve the situation, not continue employing people whose work provides no tangible results. A selection process could help find professional and motivated people who would be ready to take responsibility for the development of the Freeport, rather than continue maintaining a system that seems to be stuck in routine and does not provide the necessary results in the development of Latvian ports.
By announcing a selection process, it would be possible to ensure the candidate is not only politically acceptable but also able to provide tangible improvements to management,
raise efficiency and generate long-term value for Latvia’s economy. This would be a step forward. It would ensure important state structures are managed in accordance with the highest professional standards and by the most appropriate people.
However, by proposing Strautmane for a repeated term as Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Freeport, the general impression is that Briškens hasn’t considered any other candidate. As evidenced by the order posted on the Legislative Acts portal. Moreover – the time limit set for the submission of project opinions is only four work days, which clearly indicates that no one in charge has any interest for any other opinions regarding her fitness for this post. Neither the Ministry of Transport nor the Cabinet of Ministers do not seem bothered by this potentially single-person decision-making.
The freight volume drop during Strautmane’s term was dramatic
When Strautmane took office as Chairman of Ventspils Freeport in 2019, the turnover at Ventspils port was 20.6 million tonnes. In 2024, on the other hand, the freight volume was only 8.2 million tonnes. One could bring up the complicated geopolitical situation, but in the same period and the same geopolitical situation Liepaja port, for example, managed to maintain a steady pace of development. On top of that, the ports of Latvia’s biggest competitors – Klaipeda and Tallinn – even managed to grow their respective freight turnover in the same period of time.
Because the lion’s share of Ventspils Freeport authority’s income is related to port fees for ships entering the port, the drop in freight volumes also directly affects Ventspils Freeport authority’s budget and ability to afford various projects.
Why was the Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Freeport paid EUR 200 000 in wages between 2019 and 2023?
According to the rules of Ventspils Freeport Authority, the board of the freeport has a lot of responsibilities, which are unlikely to be completed in a single day’s time, when board members travel to Ventspils for a meeting. There is a large number of issues that require in-depth analysis and a lot of time, because otherwise a question appears – why exactly was the Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Freeport paid EUR 200 000 in wages between 2019 and 2023?
In this particular case there is reason to suspect a conflict of interests. Because it turns out that during Strautmane’s term, when she was Director of State Capital Shares Department of the Ministry of Transport, she was also in charge of monitoring her own activities as Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Freeport! Perhaps this is the reason Ventspils Freeport authority somehow “missed” the clear wasting of money on the luxuries of board members. For example, the 35 people who flew out to the international exhibition “Translogistica Uzbekistan 2023”. 32 of them flew Economy Class, but two Ventspils Freeport authority members – Igors Udodovs and Inguna Strautmane – and the now board member of “Ventas osta” and Director of Development and Financial Planning Department of the Ministry of Transport Baiba Vīlipa flew in Business Class. Ventspils Freeport authority paid EUR 4 084.3 for each of them. Flying Economy Class would have cost EUR 1 772.02. According to unofficial information, this is normal practice for Ventspils Freeport authority.
How much can one person do while sitting in multiple seats simultaneously?
It is worth mentioning that the 1st of January market the coming into force of amendments “On Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Activities of Public Officials”. These amendments state that that senior officials of state and local government institutions may combine their position only with one other remunerated or otherwise remunerated position, but not with the position of a member of the board of directors of a public capital company. This did not prevent Strautmane from combining her post as deputy state secretary to the Ministry of Transport with her post as Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Freeport.
The Ministry of Transport also failed to take into account the concerns raised by the State Audit Office a couple of years ago as to whether the combination of posts does not harm the performance of the direct duties of a public official, as well as the actions of the management of capital companies recognised by the auditors – the management activities of capital companies carried out by the ministry only partially comply with the principle of good governance practice.
For ministry officials, every resident of Latvia has a salary with their taxes paid, and this gives the public the right to ask – what has been done for the money we pay you? How much productivity is possible at all when sitting in two, three or more chairs at the same time?
In Strautmane’s case there are three chairs – member of the board of Mērsrags port, where she has worked since 2013 has has been paid EUR 21 569 in ten years; member of the board of Ventspils Freeport, where she has been paid EUR 196 902 in four years; and Ministry of Transport, where she served as Director of the State Capital Shares Department (2018 – November 2024). In four years time, during her term in the Ministry of Transport, when she was also Chairman of the Board of Ventspils Freeport, Inguna Strautmane was paid EUR 207 802, just slightly more than she was paid for her work at the Freeport.
Aside from these three stable chairs, there were also a couple of bonuses – Road Traffic Safety Directorate, where she was paid EUR 2 534 in 2019, and European Railway Lines, where Strautmane was a shareholder representative in 2020 and 2021.
European Railway Lines, by the way, is responsible for the implementation of Rail Baltica project in Latvia, including the infamous piling in Daugava River. The duties of a shareholder representative are listed in the “Law on Governance of Capital Shares of Public Entity and Management of Capital Companies Thereof”. However, considering all the difficulties and scandals associated with Rail Baltica, it is difficult to believe Strautmane was on top of things in this post.
This could explain Briškens’ passion in seeing specifically Strautmane as the head of Ventspils Freeport. Briškens’ ties to Rail Baltica have been apparent since the beginning. In 2019-2022, so when Strautmane was a representative of RB Rail shareholder – European Railway Lines, Briškens was RB Rail’s strategy and development manager. Perhaps this factor served as the booster in her career – last November she was appointed as deputy state secretary to the Ministry of Transport with duties linked to the ministry’s legal and administrative affairs, as well as connections in railway sectors.