Rigas Mezi board members suspected of disproportionate investment of EUR 600,000 in Green Class project

RIGA - The Riga City Council suspects disproportionate and nontransparent use of funds at the municipal forestry company Rigas Mezi, the local government's representatives told a press conference on Friday called to inform the public about the firing of two Rigas Mezi board members.

Rigas Mezi's long-time CEO Aivars Taurins and board member Juris Buskevics were dismissed from their jobs following a whistleblower's report. An audit is under way at Rigas Mezi at the moment.

The incident concerns the investment of more than EUR 600,000 in construction of one of the Green Class environmental education project's buildings.

As reported, Rigas Mezi CEO Taurins and board member Buskevics were let go on Thursday.

Taurins confirmed to LETA that he had been dismissed, adding though that he did not have full information about the reasons for his dismissal.

Taurins said that the decision to fire him was based on a whistleblower's report concerning the environmental education project Green Class.

Taurins told LETA that he would not contest his dismissal. However, if the new Riga City Council decides to halt the Green Class project, Taurins will do everything in his power to not let it happen.

According to Rigas Mezi website, the Green Class project aims to educate and inform the public about forests and their importance in Latvia.

Green Class is a project that Taurins is very proud of. Likewise, he is also proud of all other projects implemented by Rigas Mezi, including Riga parks, Mezaparks and the Grand Stage, and others.

Taurins believes that the current situation is due to the fact that the Riga City Council still has no executive director, and there is no normal communication between the local government and municipal companies.

LETA also reported, Taurins has been the head of Rigas Mezi since the company's inception in 2008.

According to Firmas.lv, Rigas Mezi share capital is almost EUR 115 million.

The company posted EUR 16.8 million in turnover and EUR 621,579 in profit in 2019.