Management of Riga Airport reshuffled amid conflict of interest claims

Shareholders in Riga International Airport on Monday dismissed the airport' s CEO Andris Liepins and Ilmars Upenieks, a member of the airport' s management board, and appointed Ilona Lice in Liepins' stead.

Although the sacked managers have been accused of serious conflicts of interest, their being replaced has been met with mixed responses from Latvia' s officials and experts.

An internal audit conducted on the airport suggests the two managers probably had their personal interests in mind when concluding contracts on behalf of the airport, which, from a legal standpoint, would be sufficient reason to fire them.

Talis Linkaits, a member of the airport's supervisory board, voiced concerns though that the decision to dismiss Liepins and Upnieks had been taken in a hurry, based on an audit report that also might have been drawn up too hastily.

He assumed, however, that a more detailed assessment of the audit' s findings would probably not change the outcome and the airport's managers would be replaced anyway.

"This was not an extraordinary audit, it had been scheduled for 2016, and one of its objectives was to analyze the airport' s procurement procedures," explained transport ministry representative Aivis Freidenfelds.

Liepins dismissed the conflict of interest allegations, saying somebody had probably taken issue with the airport's management working so actively.

The airport's internal audit has reportedly revealed a number of violations of procurement rules. This spring, for example, Riga Airport awarded a 700,000-euro (791,644 U.S. dollar) contract to Velve construction firm whose former board member was Upenieks.

The airport's management also hired the Latvian Aviation Association, which is chaired by Liepins, to conduct a study on the aviation industry's impact on the Latvian economy. The association denied the allegations, saying it had never signed such an agreement or received any pay from the airport.

Liepins had been running Riga International Airport since November 2014 when he replaced Aldis Murnieks as the airport's CEO. Before that, he had been working as the economics ministry's undersecretary of state. Upenieks was also appointed to the airport' s management board in November 2014.
Source:XINHUA