RIGA - Finance Minister Oskars Spurdzins lashed out at the Riga Graduate School of Law in a Cabinet meeting this week, saying the institution was beset by wasteful management.
Spurdzins told the finance minister that he had discussed the law school's problems with Sweden's Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds in Stockholm last week, where he accompanied the president on a state visit. Freivalds voiced concerns over the future of the graduate school, which was founded through joint efforts of Latvia and Sweden, the minister said.
Spurdzins added that the institution has been mired in financial straits. He went on to explain that sizeable mismanagement has taken place, though it was "luckily" not on the part of Latvia. Distribution of seats among the law school's board of directors indicates that the Latvian side has not had the main say in managing the graduate school, as three out of five members are from Sweden.
According to Spurdzins, the Graduate School of Law has spent 13,000 lats (18,500 euros) to educate just one student, and even Europe's most expensive universities don't have such exorbitant costs.
He said that in Sweden, a similar education costs no more than 4,000 lats for one student.
The Riga Graduate School of Law fell into such financial hardships as a result of unfavorable conditions under the school establishment agreement. Another factor is that the school is unable to repay a 2.5 million-lat loan for refurbishment and building restoration, taken from Nordic Investment Bank against a guarantee of the state. The institution has to repay the loan in 2005-2017, but the Finance Ministry has been ordered to seek ways for restructuring the loan.
Meanwhile, the task of solving the school's hardships will go to Uldis Cerps, chairman of the finance and capital market commission, who the government appointed as a school board of director member on April 5. Education and Research Minister Ina Druviete asked for Cerps' candidacy to be approved before April 7, when the board of directors convenes for a meeting.
Cerps admitted the school had been poorly managed, although its academic level is very high.
"Everybody is satisfied with the academic level, but the graduate school is very expensive," he said.
He added that his task, while working on the board of directors, would be to figure out ways "for putting a school, which has good academic prospects, back on its feet."
In the future, one of school's financial sources's the resources granted by the Soros Foundation Latvia 's will be reduced by half in 2006 and halted completely as of 2007.
The Swedish government has said that it would only consider extending financing after 2007, when the establishment contract expires. Once it receives affirmation from the Latvian government, it will continue to help fund the school.
The Riga Graduate School of Law was established in 1997 on the basis of an agreement between the Latvian and Swedish governments. The Swedish government owns 51 percent of the property, the Latvian government 25 percent, while the remaining 24 percent is owned by Soros Foundation Latvia.
