Main tasks will include examining and handing down an opinion and recommendations on municipal strategic project documents regarding municipal share management. The council will also offer the acting director proposals on municipal company and share management.
“Publicly recognized experts will work on the advisory board. That will provide confidence that it will succeed in making the necessary changes for Rīga municipal company management to comply with OECD standards and general good management practice,” said Zalpētere.
The board will be led by Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance Vice-president and Latvian Director Andris Grafs. It will also include Finance Latvia Association legal advisor Edgars Pastars, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board Chair Jānis Endziņš, Employers' Confederation of Latvia Secretary General Līga Meņģelsone, Foreign Investors' Council in Latvia Investment Protection and Court Efficiency work group leader Māris Vainovskis and Cross-Sectoral Coordination Centre Deputy Director and Development Supervision and Assessment Division Director Vladislavs Vesperis.
The advisory council will operate on an unpaid basis.
“The creation of the advisory board is one of the first steps in creating a new culture regarding municipal company management, which the city council has not worked on enough previously. This means adopting OECD corporate management principles and stopping the ineffective management model,” said Grafs.
As previously reported, Rīgas municipal temporary administrative director Edvīns Balševics suspended the city's executive director Juris Radzevičs (Honor to Serve Riga) due to irresponsible actions during the emergency situation caused by the Covid-19 novel coronavirus pandemic, while executing his duties as executive director and shareholder at municipal companies.
Zalpētere entered her role as Rīga's municipal acting executive director, having extensive experience in supervising and representing companies as “Ventas osta” (“Venta Port”) council chair, Ministry for Children and Family Affairs state secretary, as well as state secretary for the Justice Ministry, and other roles. Zalpētere has also offered legal consultations through a private practice for seven years.
