Riga council criticized over planned €300,000 LinkedIn account

The Riga Investment and Tourism Agency had planned to invest €300,000 in creating and maintaining a city profile on the professional networking platform LinkedIn. Once the plan became public, it drew significant criticism over how efficiently municipal funds — drawn from residents' taxes — are being spent, particularly at a time when residents in many parts of the city, including outlying districts, complain about poor road and street conditions.

The procurement process has currently been suspended, but the agency does not intend to abandon the idea. The competition documents are expected to be revised, and the procurement will likely be announced again.

Leadership unaware of the plan

It emerged that neither Riga Mayor Viesturs Kleinbergs nor Edgars Bergholcs, chairman of the council's City Development Committee, had previously known about the tender, even though the agency — tasked with shaping Riga's public image and attracting tourists, businesses and investment — operates under the mayor's direct oversight.

Following the criticism, Kleinbergs stated that Riga's story needs to be told to the world, but that this must be done in a financially responsible manner, with careful evaluation of every expense.

Questions over value

The underlying idea of building Riga's international visibility is not itself being dismissed — a city's reputation can matter to investors scouting locations for business. However, it remains unclear what direct benefit residents or Latvia's economy would gain from such spending. If the campaign genuinely attracted investors who created jobs and paid taxes in Latvia, or helped bring major international events to the city, the expenditure could be justified. But if the outcome amounts to little more than polished posts and a modest rise in followers, spending such a large sum raises questions about the responsible use of public money.