After resigning from the position of board member of VAS “Latvijas dzelzceļš” (LDz), Āriks Šmuksts has been appointed acting director of technical management of LDz, Latvian Television program “De facto” reports on Sunday.
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Shmuksts resigned from the position of a member of the board in connection with the accusation of abusive use of official position, which caused losses to the state in the amount of one and a half million euros.
Smuksts left the company’s board as the last defendant in the case. At that time, the reason for leaving the position was not specified, but now both the LDŽ and the chairman of the company council, Jānis Lange, confirm that the reason for leaving was the accusation.
However, Shmuksts did not leave the company altogether. The board decided to appoint him as acting director of technical management. It is a position in the company’s structure directly below Shmukst’s previous position as a board member responsible for technical operation issues. The position was vacant because the previous technical director Egils Feldmanis was transferred a few months earlier to the newly created position of board advisor.
The chairman of the board at that time was Māris Kleinbergs. He did not agree to the interview, but he emphasized in a telephone conversation that the transfer of Feldmanis to the position of adviser was in no way connected with the freeing of the place for Shmukst. The board needed an advisor for “Rail Baltica” issues.
Meanwhile, Lange states that after accepting Schmukst’s resignation, he did not know that he would remain working as a director in the company. The board informed about it some time later. Lange believes that the most important thing is that Shmukst no longer represents the company as a public official.
The council had announced a competition for the position of board member in technical operation matters left by Shmuksta, but there were no suitable candidates. The position has now been eliminated. The company emphasizes that Shmukst does not have suitable security measures that would prevent him from taking the position of director. At the same time, the company states that Shmuksts is only acting, and it is possible that a competition could be announced for the position: “Currently, the management functions of technological processes are also being reviewed, and therefore, in the foreseeable future, a competition could also be announced for the position of manager of this field.”
As reported, the criminal case against four former members of the board of VAS “Latvijas dzelzceļš” (LDz), including Ugi Magoni, for the abuse of official position for greedy purposes, the Kurzeme district court in Liepāja will begin hearing on April 24 at 1 p.m., the court explained.
Magonis, Edvīns Bērziņš, Aivars Strakšas and Eriks Shmuksts are accused in the case.
The former officials have been accused of abusing their official position for greedy purposes, which has caused severe consequences, as the state has suffered property damage in the amount of more than 1.5 million euros, the prosecutor’s office informed.
According to the indictment, officials of the board of “LDz” achieved the creation of a new executive body – the Council of Presidents – by transferring to it the rights and duties that were within the competence of the board, in order to obtain additional income for the performance of their direct duties, for which a payment in accordance with the law had already been determined.
During the period from January 1, 2013 to August 18, 2019, the accused officials misused their official position for greedy purposes while holding positions on the board and the Council of Presidents, as a result of which they illegally obtained additional income for the performance of their direct duties. Thus, as a result of the activities carried out by the accused officials, the state suffered a property loss of 1,553,896 euros.
In February 2020, the General Prosecutor’s Office started the specific criminal process, instructing the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau to carry out the investigation, which, after its completion, transferred the criminal case materials to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Riga Court District for the initiation of criminal prosecution.
It has already been reported that the President’s Council was established in LDz, which the Constitutional Court found illegal, but this council was never liquidated.
The Council of Presidents of LDz existed for nine years, from September 2010 to October 2019. It was a structural unit to which the functions of the board of the capital company were artificially separated and assigned, that is, the duties of the President’s Council were already within the competence of the board of the capital company, for which the members of the board received compensation. On October 17, 2019, the board of LDz adopted a decision terminating the activity of the President’s Council.
During the existence of the Council of Presidents until 2015, the chairman of the board of the company was Uģis Magonis, and from 2016 to 2019 Bērziņš, who was a member of the board of LDz since 2011.
Aivars Strakšas also worked on the board of the company during the existence of the Council of Presidents from 2008 to 2019, Ainis Stūrmanis from 2016 to 2020, and Eriks Shmuksts from 2011 to 2019.
In May 2019, the then Minister of Transport Tālis Linkaits (JKP) expressed no confidence in Bērziņš, Strakš and Stūrmanis. In August, the council terminated the working relationship with Bērziņš and Strakša, while Stūrmanis left his position in April of the following year.
As the State Audit Office concluded in 2020, since the establishment of the President’s Council, all the remuneration paid to its members has been paid unjustifiably, because the duties assigned to the members of the Council were within the competence of the board, which already received the remuneration specified in the regulation.
At the beginning of 2020, Transport Minister Linkaits applied to the General Prosecutor’s Office.
Magonis is currently accused of corruption in a criminal case together with Estonian businessman Oleg Osinovski. The court of first instance acquitted both, but the prosecutor’s office filed a protest. The Riga Regional Court plans to continue hearing the case on March 14.