In a long-awaited move April 5, Environmental Protection and Regional Development Minister Juris Pūce (Attīstībai/Par!) has announced the suspension of longtime Rīga mayor Nils Ušakovs (Saskaņa).
The decision was been made regarding non-fulfillment of statutory obligations and violations of regulatory enactments, according to a statement in the official gazette “Latvijas Vēstnesis”. The lengthy document lists various accountancy and investment errors in support of its case, holding Nils Ušakovs responsible for signing off on a series of dubious decisions.
Speaking to Latvian Radio Friday morning, head of the party “Latvijas attīstībai” and cohead of alliance “Attīstībai/Par!” Juris Pūce claimed that Nils Ušakovs had been targeted because he had violated the law as the mayor of the city and as shareholder of “Rīgas satiksme” and “has not ensured that the interests of the residents of Riga are protected”, decisions were taken that violate the law, and also errors of omission, which has led to serious consequences and a loss of around 28 million euros in municipal finances.
“Suspension is necessary to ensure that the City Council continues to take legal actions in decision-making and to prevent further violations of laws and regulations by the competent authorities,” Juris Pūce told LTV in another early-morning interview.
Later in the day Juris Pūce issued an English-language statement too,
“As of today Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia Juris Pūce has suspended Mayor of Riga Nils Ušakovs from his duties. The decision has followed as systematic violation of law by the Mayor was found out in the Ministry’s inspection,” it said.
“The first phase of carrying out inspection of Riga’s City council legality of the action has been finished. Serious cases, where law has been violated, were discovered and the Mayor’s answers are hardly convincing of the opposite. Therefore, officials of the Ministry have prepared and I have signed the notice for suspending Riga City council Mayor from his duties. I want to stress – this is not a political dispute. This is decision for good governance. This decision has been made to protect inhabitants of Latvia’s capital city from poorly managed public resources and possible illegal actions with public money,” Pūce said.
However, he also warned that “With this signed notice oversight of Riga City council by the Ministry is far from over. The discovered facts and publicly available information shows that the violations could be systematic. In the meantime I want to highlight that all Latvia’s municipalities are monitored and overseen by the Ministry. The times are over, when law could be interpreted in self-interest or decisions by the Constitutional court of the Republic of Latvia ignored. I will make sure that elected heads of municipalities comply with the law regardless of political affiliation.”
In its inspection the ministry concluded that Ušakovs has violated at least eight legal and regulatory act norms.
“One example of the above-mentioned can be traced back to 2017. In the annual Riga Municipality budget 18 432 000 euros were expected to be invested in “Rīgas Satiksme”. These public financial resources could only be used to increase the company’s capital assets, but it was not done so. “Rīgas Satiksme” did not use the financial resources for the aim mentioned, but in the annual report reflected the money as revenue form economic activity. Nils Ušakovs oversees the operation of this and other municipally-owned companies and according to law is responsible for effective, legitimate and economically sane use of financial resources. The Mayor was clearly aware of the consequences for inappropriate spending of the money. Therefore he misled the elected members of Riga City Council, who considered to be voting for the long-term investment, but actually had voted for “giving a gift” to the company,” the ministry statement said, adding that “all of the information and discovered facts about the actions of Mayor of Riga will be sent to the Prosecution Office of the Republic of Latvia and the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) for further investigation.”
The move is not unprecedented. In 2012 then minister Edmunds Sprūdžs issued an order for the dismissal of Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs. It proved ineffective for the simple reason that Lembergs ignored it and no-one else enforced it, and Lembergs continues as de facto mayor to this day.
He was elected Rīga mayor in July 2009 and has held the position ever since. With Rīga’s large population and economic influence, it is one of the most powerful positions in the country.
On March 21, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development announced that the Ministry had identified a number of possible violations of laws under the supervision of the local government “Rīgas satiksme” and in the work of the Riga City Council. Nils Ušakovs had to provide explanations for the ministry’s findings, and it was given a week – until Thursday 28 March – what Nils Ušakovs failed to do.
Source: LSM.LV
