"Diena" difficulties continue

RIGA - Troubles continue to mount for one of Latvia's most prestigious newspapers, "Diena", after the chairman of the board announced his resignation late last week.

Aleksandrs Tralmaks said he would be step down from his post through spokeswoman Anna Muhka, nozare.lv reported. Muhka said a board meeting would be called to find a new candidate for the post.

Tralmaks took control of Diena almost exactly one year ago after his company, "Nedela S.A.", bought the newspaper from Swedish shareholder ''Bonnier AB''.

The paper has faced significant difficulties in the past few years, many of them stemming from the ill-fated purchase.

A month ago editor-in-chief Dace Andersone announced her resignation, becoming the third chief editor to leave the paper in just two years. Andersone was replaced by former research department head and author Guntis Bojars.

Diena also suffered a walk-out of many of its most prominent journalists after the new owners of the newspaper refused to reveal their identity.

The sale of the company and the turbulence in the editorial department has had a devastating effect on subscriptions, which last year fell from nearly 27,000 to just over 18,000.