Manager of Gors concert hall dismissed

RIGA - Diana Zirnina was on Tuesday dismissed as the manager of Latgale regional concert hall Gors in Rezekne on the grounds of loss of trust.

As the local government informed LETA, the decision to dismiss Zirnina was made at an extraordinary shareholder meeting of the municipal company Austrumlatvijas Koncertzale (Eastern Latvia Concert Hall). The meeting also considered a functional audit report provided by Audita Akademija and the terms of a delegation agreement.

Iveta Cipruse, who currently works as Rezekne deputy executive director for supervision of capital companies and has headed the city's audit department for several years, was appointed as the Gors concert hall's interim manager. The local authority said that Cipruse has relevant experience in financial management, municipal administration and the management of municipal and private capital companies.

Cipruse's term as the concert hall's interim manager may not exceed one year, and she will be running the concert hall until a new manager is appointed.

The local authority states that in the current financial climate, both the municipality and the company need a management approach with a stronger focus on financial control, budgeting, risk management, and decision-making based on business analytics to achieve the company's strategic objectives, "thereby ensuring a long-term existence of Gors, a high artistic quality of events, and the availability of cultural services to the citizens and guests of Rezekne". The shareholder therefore believes that the company currently needs a manager with strong competencies in financial management.

"As the head of the municipality, I fully support the decision of the executive and I have emphasized repeatedly that we all need to understand that Gors is maintained with taxpayers' money and we need to manage it as responsibly as possible. Unfortunately, we have faced resistance from the Gors manager in our search for a more efficient management model," said Rezekne Mayor Aleksandrs Bartasevics (Together for Latvia/Latvia First).

According to him, the concert hall's expenses are growing while revenues are falling.

"The audit's findings indicate that the company is heavily dependent on municipal funding. The audit also found that in 2024, the concert hall's operating income decreased by 5.4 percent, an indication of efficiency issues," the Rezekne mayor said.

He also said that in early January the local authority will invite the Culture Ministry as well as other involved and interested parties to cooperate in order to jointly decide on the future development of Austrumlatvijas Koncertzale, strengthening sustainable financial management and achieving the strategic goals of the Gors concert hall, ensuring the involvement of all stakeholders in the decision-making process.

As reported, Rezekne City Council earlier said that it was considering changes to Latgale embassy Gors management system. The local government emphasizes that it provides Gors a subsidy from the Rezekne budget every year, expecting in return high quality and the concert hall's work aimed at increasing its revenues so that the subsidy could be reduced. A recent audit of the concert hall's functions, however, identified several problems in its operations.

In light of audit results and recommendations, the municipality, in cooperation with Rezekne Culture and Tourism Center, has started to work on possible changes "that would ensure sustainability of the institution and reduce its dependence on the municipality's subsidy".

One of the main tasks is to identify a management system that will allow Gors to become more efficient, transparent, and significantly increase revenues from its operations.