The board of Riga Central Market – board chairman Artis Druvinieks and board member Kaspars Zauls – have stepped down.
According to Riga City Council’s Communication Office, officials have informed Riga city CEO and shareholders in the company Janis Lange of their decision.
Lange said Riga Central Market needed a new and capable management that would raise the market’s profitability, perform necessary changes and make decisions to secure modern and sustainable operations.
The new board will be picked through an open selection process. Until a new board has been composed, the market will be managed by interim board members under the head of the market’s Legal Affairs Office Maris Skudra as board chairman and Riga City Council’s Department of Finances director Uldis Rakstins as board member.
In April, industrial goods started being sold in Riga Central Market’s former milk pavilion. Riga City Council objected this and later said this decision was never coordinated with the municipal government.
The management of the market explained that sales of industrial goods in the milk pavilion was a short-term solution. In 2020, the decision was made to demolish market stalls located on Gogola Street. The market’s management promised to find a different location for peddlers to settle.
When the project to revitalize the edge of the canal located near Riga Central Market was commenced, it was planned to perform repairs at the fish pavilion as well. It was planned to move fish traders to the milk pavilion, but this project was put on hold in the end.
The milk pavilion remained empty at first and then the decision was made to move peddlers selling industrial goods there. This decision was approved at the shareholders meeting during the term of the previous city council.
According to Druvinieks, approximately 60-65% of traders in the milk pavilion came from the market stalls that were demolished.
EUR 37,558 was used to set up stalls for industrial goods. This investment was paid back within approximately three months. In one month income from sales of these goods was about EUR 20,000.
Druvinieks also said after restoration, the name of the milk pavilion was only conditionally appropriate. Only 30% of traders operating from there sold dairy products. All of them have been moved to the gastronomy pavilion instead.
In 2019, Riga Central Market worked with turnover of EUR 7.3 million and losses worth EUR 216,000.
The company’s base capital is EUR 15 million. Riga Central Market belongs to Riga municipality. (BNN/Business World Magazine)