Education Ministry rejects PM's criticism over €147,000 grant to Bridge Federation
Latvia's Education and Science Ministry denies that funding for the national Bridge Federation was awarded without clear criteria, responding to Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs' request for explanations.
The Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) said in a statement issued Saturday that claims about the Latvian Bridge Federation, led by National Alliance politician Imants Parādnieks, receiving funding without clear criteria or through an individual political decision are unfounded. The ministry insists all facts can be verified in documents already submitted to the State Chancellery.
Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs had asked IZM to explain why the federation received €147,366, given that both bridge championships it organized had already ended before the competition was announced on July 22. IZM responds that the National Sports Council had already approved the hosting of the bridge championships back in July 2025, and that the competition rules did not exclude events that had already taken place — a practice the ministry says it has applied consistently in other cases too.
How the funding was distributed
The ministry explains that of seven events supported this year, three — including the bridge championships — had concluded before the competition was announced. In total, applicants requested funding for 22,157 nights of accommodation for foreign guests, of which bridge championships accounted for 65.5%. That same proportion determined the funding split, calculated using an identical formula applied to all applicants.
IZM also rejected the suggestion that an additional €14,000 was meant to invent criteria after the competition concluded, saying the sum is instead intended to evaluate the competition's results and to draft proposals for a future permanent support program.
Minister Ilze Indriksone stressed that the requested information has already been provided to the prime minister twice, and that the ministry is ready for any legal review. Kulbergs, for his part, said he does not currently want to declare the funding decision unlawful, but considers the available information serious enough to warrant an immediate inquiry.
