Andris Vilks

Latvian Finance Minister Andris Vilks informed his fellow party members about his intention to leave politics after the work on 2013 state budget package is completed, Pietiek.com reports.

According to the portal’s information, the Finance Minister explained his desire to leave with fatigue. It is also rumoured that Vilks would want to work more closely with Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, from whom Vilks never received a simple «thank you» in almost two years of service in the office.

Sources close to Vilks’ banking circles told the portal that one of the possible reasons for his resignation is the salary, which is incomparable with the salary he had while working as a SEB Bank economist. Vilks’ official’s declaration for 2011 shows that he earned a little over 21 000 LVL while on the post of Finance Minister. He also declared a little over 50 000 LVL in indebtedness.

In two days, Vilks, who is on vacation this week, did not respond to the questions that were sent to him. However, the portal is aware that Vilks has informed a narrow range of persons in Unity about his intention, including Valdis Dombrovskis. Information about this possibility was heard also in banking circles, from which Vilks himself came to politics.

When a fellow party member of the Finance Minister unofficially confirmed the information about Vilks’ resignation, that same person also noted that this is not the first time when Vilks talks about it. So it seems that Unity has considerable confidence that Vilks can be talked out of it. «He talks about it all the time,»- some Unity source said. If the Finance Minister really does resign, Unity would retain this post; a possible candidate for this post would be the current chief of the Saeima Budget and Finance Commission Janis Reirs.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis denies this information, saying in an interview to 900 seconds of LNT, that these are only rumours and that he did not discuss this issue with Vilks. «It is hard to comment who and why creates these rumours,»- Prime Minister says.

It was previously reported that, recently, on June 21, the important poll in the Saeima on investing 25 million LVL in the Mortgage Bank’s capital nearly failed. Vilks warned Unity that he would resign from his post, if the necessary number of votes is not guaranteed. Thanks to political compromises, the poll did not fail, and the Finance Minister did not fulfil his warning.

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