Today, the Saeima decided to appoint Andris Vilks, a representative of the management team of the European Investment Bank and former Minister of Finance, as a member of the Council of the Bank of Latvia (LB).
The wolf was promoted to the position by the Governor of the Bank of Latvia, Mārtiņš Kazāks.
45 deputies voted in favor of Vilk’s appointment, 21 deputies voted against it, six deputies abstained.
Member Valērijs Agešins (S) reminded of the fate of the company “Liepājas metalurgs”, emphasizing that in his opinion, Vilks had acted against the interests of the population and the national economy.
“Liepāja residents have not forgotten the actions and indifference of the then Minister of Finance. Now it is difficult to say how much it cost Latvia to leave the country because of it. The farther away from the Latvian economy, the better,” Agešins said, adding that as his previous conduct is considered unacceptable.
Politician Linda Liepiņa recalled this week’s private conversation with Jānis Urbanovičs, the leader of the party “Sobeža”, with a party member about a possible vote on the issue of Wolf due to an unmute microphone in the Saeima’s Inquiry Commission.
“Agesin will hand over the cans of” Liepaja metalurgist “, Vanis, most likely (Ivan) Ribakov together with the canned or New Conservative Party (JKP) will be against. that the vote will show whether Urbanovich’s prophecy will be fulfilled.
Liepiņa added that he would support Vilks’ candidacy, because Kazaks, who runs the Bank of Latvia, asked to vote for him. “He has the right to choose a team with which to successfully manage the bank,” the deputy said.
JKP politician Gatis Eglītis explained that today the Council of the Bank of Latvia has five members, emphasizing that it should not create a sixth place in it, because it also requires investment of funds, instead funds could be saved.
“I am not clear about Kazak’s position either. The Bank of Latvia is not able to address qualitatively serious problems in the economic sector, such as lending, bank accounts,” the politician believes.
MEP Dana Reizniece-Ozola (ZZS) said that the Greens and Farmers Union faction would not support Wolf’s candidacy. The politician stressed that now that the bank is facing change, there should be a discussion on the election of council members. The deputy also said that politically neutral people should work in the bank, but Vilks has been very active in the public space, supporting certain political forces.
MP Krišjānis Feldmans (JKP) reminded that last year the Saeima adopted amendments to the Law “On the Bank of Latvia”, which stipulates that the government must submit a draft law on the merger of the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) to the Bank of Latvia this autumn. “It’s October, but I haven’t seen such a document,” the politician said.
Feldman is concerned that if the FCMC joins the Bank of Latvia, it should be ensured that the FCMC management also continues to play a leading role in the Bank of Latvia. “So far, there have been versions that if someone in the Council of the Bank of Latvia were to cease to hold office, it would be possible to migrate those responsible for financial sector supervision without undue problems. It would only seem logical to me to keep this position vacant,” he said.
Deputies Yulia Stephanenko, answering Eglītis, said that funds could be saved at the expense of party funding. In the context of Wolf’s candidacy, Stephanenko sees a complicated dilemma, as the past of the Minister of Finance leaves a bad opinion.
“I understand that Wolf can be blamed for opening the Pandora’s box for real estate tax. However, at the same time I realized that the further away from the Wolf will be politicians such as Valdis Dombrovskis (JV), who is one of the culprits of the 2009 crisis. “Perhaps the Wolf will realize that it was a mistake to intertwine with the” Unity “,” Stephanenko said, acknowledging that trusting Kazak’s authority would support the Wolf.
Politician Andris Kazinovskis said that the process around Wolf makes him remember the discussions about Kazak. “At that time, I was worried that Kazaks had once been a representative of a foreign state bank. I would be very careful to draw positive conclusions and agree with Eglītis that the Bank of Latvia has not already fulfilled its promises so far,” the deputy said, acknowledging that he would abstain.
The Chairman of the Budget and Finance (Tax) Committee of the Saeima reminded that the majority of the Commission supported Wolf’s candidacy.
At the same time, Kazāks told LETA that he thanked the Saeima in connection with the decision to approve the Wolf in the Council of the Bank of Latvia.
He noted that this decision will strengthen the central bank’s management team at a significant time when structural changes are being implemented in the Bank of Latvia, including improving efficiency and capacity, reviewing the governance model and moving towards single-level governance, as well as preparing for possible FCMC integration.
“Wolf will significantly strengthen the capacity and competence of the Bank of Latvia’s Governing Council, including in macroeconomic analysis in cooperation with international institutions and in the successful management of institutions in times of change,” said Kazaks, adding that Wolf is an outstanding professional with extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. also in high-level work in international financial institutions, is internationally valued and recognized. He has excellent knowledge of economics, finance, economics and financial market policy-making.
Prior to his nomination, the wolf has been coordinated by Kazaks with the other members of the Council of the Bank of Latvia, although this is not required by law.
Vilks will start working in the Council of the Bank of Latvia on November 16.
The agency LETA has already reported that the last working day of the former member of the Council of the Bank of Latvia Vita Pilsuma was September 30. According to the law, the Council of the Bank of Latvia has six members – the President, the Deputy Governor and four members of the Council.
The Governor of the Bank of Latvia is Kazāks, the Deputy Governor is Māris Kālis, and the members of the Council are Arvils Sautiņš, Aivars Skopiņš and Zita Zariņa.
Vilks has worked as the chief economist of SEB banka, holding the position of the Minister of Finance in the second and third governments of Valdis Dombrovskis. In June 2014, Wolf announced that he would cease political activity. Since 2016, he has been working at the European Investment Bank, where he served as Executive Director and Member of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London, but is currently a Senior Institutional Officer at the European Investment Bank’s Baltic Regional Office in Vilnius.
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