Latvia's underdevelopment in comparison with neighbor countries is deeply structural and result of misguided policy - Karins

RIGA - Latvia's underdevelopment in comparison with its neighbor countries is deeply structural and a result of a misguided policy, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) said in an interview on TV3 channel Wednesday. 

Responding to criticism about his leadership style, the prime minister said that he tries to hear a reasonable element in every criticism, but sometime he gets criticized by those who have no leadership experience at all. According to Karins, he has a clear goal which his government must attain together. This goal is a transformation of the Latvian economy. 

"Our underdevelopment in comparison with the neighbors is deeply structural and rooted in a faulty policy which previous governments have been following over the course of  several decades - a cheap transit policy that has done no good to society ," the prime minister said.  

In Karins' opinion, the "old policy" has left "hangovers from the times of privatization where the main goal is to grab a half-monopoly and milk the people". Karins believes that Latvia cannot go on like this because this is the reason for the weakness of the national economy. Latvia should attract investment aimed at production and export, the prime minister said. 

Karins also admitted that not all members of his government have been working hard enough. In his four years of premiership Karins has realized the "frustrating" truth that the office of prime minister gives great power but that at the same time the prime minister is one of very many government members, and sometimes must face resistance and unwillingness to do something. 

According to the prime minister, he is trying to push through an economic transformation that would be comprehensible not only to politicians but also the wider public.