Latvia’s Saeima (Parliament) on Thursday approved amendments to the Law on Governance of the Capital Shares of Public Entities and Management of Capital Enterprises on final reading, providing for a freeze of salaries for capital enterprise board and council members for the next two years. The amendments also give broader rights for the Cabinet of Ministers to set criteria for how the remuneration of capital enterprise employees is determined and reviewed.
A member of the opposition, Janis Vitenbergs from the National Alliance (NA), argued during debates on the matter that the amendments would change nothing.
He mentioned the CEO of the airBaltic airline, Martin Gauss, who earned EUR 830,000 last year and whose salary would be increased by 2.6% after the adoption of the amendments. That would be more than EUR 20,000, Vitenbergs pointed out. The 2.6% increase is available if the relevant person’s salary was not increased the previous year.
Members of the National Alliance tabled several other proposals, including one that said that board chairpersons are not allowed to work for more than one capital enterprise. Opposition MPs also called for an overall change in the system of boards and councils to get rid of “professional board members” who hold positions at more than one company.
The leader of the Latvian First party, Ainars Slesers, told colleagues that a number of company councils should simply be shut down. The system requires substantial change, not cosmetic change, the opposition politician declared.
The initiative to freeze the pay of state-owned company board member was submitted to the Saeima by President Edgars Rinkevics.
Source: BNS
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