He believes that after councils were abandoned back on 1 July 2009, boards grew highly politicized, with fewer and fewer professional people.

“This calls for the same medicine China and Scandinavian countries are using – listing of 10% to 25% of the shares in the stock exchange. Reports will have to be handed in each quarter and they will be publicly available. Private owners will demand their own representative and see to it that there is quality management. They will ask for dividends,” he says.

According to him, politicians are reluctant to do it. “It is a controversial issue. Something needs to be done, but the decision is not popular. Latvenergo and theLatvian State Forests can definitely be listed. Also Latvian Railways fits, but theLatvian Post is quite sluggish, though.”

He believes that law amendments can change the list of non-privatizable enterprises. “Major Scandinavian companies are controlled by the state, but still they are also listed on the stock exchange. Preparation for that would encourage to sort out all the issues within the company,” he adds.

LETA

LVM