2024-07-17 20:26:08
She stated that she will contact the law enforcement authorities regarding the decision of the disciplinary case, as well as the fact that the application is being prepared. “This is an administrative process, a minister’s decision, which will be challenged in the administrative court,” Stepanova added.
She said that she did not agree with everything that was written and concluded in the decision of the disciplinary case. “I believe that I have enough arguments to challenge this minister’s decision,” Stepanova noted.
Commenting on whether she plans to leave the ministry, she said that basically the decision on demotion is until February 10, 2025, and then she will be completely released from her position and her employment will end. “It is a short enough period. I am now fulfilling my duties and we will see how the situation develops,” said Stepanova.
On the other hand, the government’s decision on Tuesday is related to the term of office of the state secretary. “As you know, the state secretary serves for five years with one term extension, so it is a clearly known thing that may or may not happen,” Stepanova added.
Earlier, the adviser to the Minister of Transport, Edgars Klētnieks, explained that after the investigation of the disciplinary case, a disciplinary punishment was imposed on Stepanova. She was demoted and on July 1, she was transferred to the position of Director of the Department of Communications until February 10, 2025, when her term as Secretary of State would have ended.
On Tuesday, however, the government decided to release Stepanova from the position of State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on February 10, 2025, or not to extend the term of employment.
According to the disciplinary investigation commission, she committed several disciplinary violations, as well as performed her duties as a civil servant in a poor quality and negligent manner. The proposed disciplinary case is related to the supervision of the implementation of the “Rail Baltica” project, it was previously stated in the MoU statement.
The Minister of Transport issued the order to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Stepanov on January 24, 2024, based on the information provided in the January 4, 2024 whistleblower’s report, SM previously wrote.
Transport Minister Kaspars Briškens (P) previously said in an interview to the LETA agency that several other investigations, both within the ministry and inter-institutional, stem from this disciplinary case, which should be asked more by the State Chancellery, whose representatives headed the disciplinary commission.
“We have said the main things publicly. The Secretary of State has made mistakes in her actions. The elements of negligence have been directly under supervision. The conclusions are quite clear and the decisions have been made,” Brišken stated earlier.
Stepanova performed the duties of State Secretary of the SM from February 11, 2020.
On the other hand, from 2015 to March 2019, she was a member of the State Audit Council, but before that – from 1996 – she worked at the Ministry of Finance (FM), where she held positions at the head of divisions and departments. Among them, from 2006 she worked as the director of the Budget Department of the FM, according to information in the archive of the agency LETA.
2024-07-17 20:26:08