Off the wire
• Brazil's Olympics ruled by women  • Rescued Chinese workers in stable condition after abduction in Nigeria: police  • Nepal forms probe panel over helicopter crash  • Latvian gov't largely approves Rail Baltica route through country  • China's securities firms make over 62 bln yuan profit in H1  • SW China museum opens to showcase ethnic culture  • 1st LD: Putin says meeting with Erdogan key for future of ties  • Israeli police announces plan to increase presence in Palestinian east Jerusalem villages  • Slovakian mafia boss receives life sentence  • France seals 1 bln euro military deal with Kuwait: defense ministry  
You are here: 　 Home

Coalition partner blocks appointment of Latvia's new tax chief

Xinhua, August 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Latvian government on Tuesday failed to appoint the State Revenue Service's new head as one of the three coalition partners, the center-right Unity party, refused to support the current candidate for the position.

All cabinet ministers representing Unity voted against the proposal to appoint Inga Kolegova, the current head of the State Environmental Service, to become the next tax chief, local media reported.

In the vote on Kolegova's appointment, five ministers supported her candidacy and all four ministers of the Unity party voted against.

The coalition agreement stipulates that if all ministers representing one coalition party vote against a proposal, the decision has to be postponed for a week, according to Economics Minister Arvils Aseradens of the Unity party.

Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis of the Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS), which was the first party to endorse Kolegova, agreed to put off the decision, admitting that attempts to resist Unity's demand might lead to the disintegration of the current government.

Unity has raised suspicions about Kolegova's past business deals and the accuracy of her tax returns.

Last year, for instance, Kolegova received 320,000 euros (about 355,200 U.S. dollars) in dividends from Pallog, a company she co-owns with her brother, and then gave the money away to the brother and his other company. Kolegova has declared similar transactions also in previous years.

Although Kucinskis assured coalition partners that he had ordered a detailed examination of Kolegova's deals and that it had revealed no irregularities, Unity refused to back Kolegova's candidacy and called for a new tender to pick Latvia's next tax chief.

Kucinskis rejected the proposal, saying the new tender would take several months and the Revenue Service cannot be left without a head for such a long time, as this would affect Latvia's tax revenues.

After the State Revenue Service's previous director-general Inara Petersone stood down at the end of June, a public tender was held to fill the vacant position, but none of the candidates who applied in the competition was found to be suitable.

It was then decided to look for a candidate among Latvia's top-ranked public servants without organizing a new tender. Apart from Kolegova, the job was also offered to Treasury head Kaspars Abolins and Baiba Vitolina, the head of the Consumer Rights Protection Center, but they refused to run for the position. Endit