PM candidates clash over cost of Latvijas Pasts' rebranding

Two candidates for prime minister ahead of the 15th Saeima — Jūlija Stepaņenko of SV/AJ and Andris Šuvajevs of PRO — expressed differing views during a discussion on TV24's talk show "Runāsim atklāti" about the €200,000 spent on rebranding state postal company Latvijas Pasts.

Stepaņenko argued that such spending on the company's needs could be considered wasteful.

Šuvajevs pushes back

Šuvajevs countered that conclusions of wastefulness should not be drawn automatically, calling instead for specific justification of why a particular expense should be seen that way. He noted that if there are suspicions of wrongdoing, the matter should be referred to the relevant institutions.

According to Šuvajevs, Latvijas Pasts is being developed as a business, and some expenditures may be tied to its business plan. He warned that singling out individual costs without broader context can create a misleading impression and turn into a populist talking point in political debate.

Šuvajevs called for clarity on which specific expense is being discussed, what justification exists for it, and how it fits into the company's overall operations before drawing conclusions about its appropriateness.