Kulbergs: At Least One State-Owned Company Should Be Listed by 2028
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said at least one state-owned company worth €300 million or more should be listed on the stock exchange by early 2028. He also outlined a plan for a state capital fund to manage the largest state companies.
Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (AS) set out a goal at the Baltic Capital Markets Conference on Thursday: by the end of the first quarter of 2028, at least one state-owned company with a market capitalisation of at least €300 million should be listed on the stock exchange. His second target is for at least 70,000 local investors to take part in the initial public offering (IPO) of its shares. The premier admitted the targets are ambitious, but stressed that the capital market must become more accessible to residents so that their savings are invested in the development of Latvian companies.
State capital fund
Kulbergs described a plan to create a new Latvian state capital fund that would take over management of the largest state-owned companies. In his words, the fund would provide professional management and operate independently of the political agenda and individual ministries. He assessed that state company governance is currently too exposed to political influence and not professional enough.
The combined assets of state-owned companies are worth about €16 billion, while their profit last year was around €400 million, less than 3% of asset value. Kulbergs called this use of capital inefficient. The fund would allow companies to raise capital by listing shares and, where needed, by issuing bonds. This would also improve transparency and corporate governance, and could serve as an example for the private sector.
Economic growth and Baltic cooperation
The prime minister noted that Latvia has so far performed worse than Lithuania and Estonia, and said bureaucracy must not remain the "handbrake" of the economy. He stressed that the Baltic states should look at the growth of the whole region.
Kārlis Otss, head of the Nasdaq Baltic exchanges and CEO of Nasdaq Tallinn, called for a single Baltic capital market and for listing state companies, with the state keeping a majority stake if needed. He said bringing in larger companies would help the region move from frontier market to emerging market status; the current classification restricts institutional investor capital, and passive investment flows are about 50 times smaller. Otss also proposed creating a €1 million Baltic equity index fund.
