Jelgava County Council will choose the board of “Zemgale Health Center” in a competition – ZZ.lv

At the end of March, the temporary board of SIA “Zemgales health center” (ZVC) was appointed, while a competition will be held for the positions of permanent board members, the deputy executive director of Jelgava municipality for development issues, Kaspars Sniedzītis, informed LETA agency.

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The decision-making rights of the holder of capital shares of the municipality of Zemgale health center have been transferred to Sniedzīt from March 1.

On March 29, 2023, the Jelgava County Council decided to terminate the municipality’s direct participation in the capital company “Zemgale Health Center” after the expiration of the concession agreement for the transfer of capital shares to commercial management, which ended in January 2024, and to expropriate the 88.19% capital shares owned by the municipality.

The municipality is currently conducting market research and plans to order a new evaluation of SIA “Zemgales sevysans centrs”. A year and a half has passed since the previous assessment, and it has lost its relevance, said the deputy executive director.

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On March 21, the Jelgava County Council, in an extraordinary meeting, approved Vaiva Laimītis, Acting Head of the Property Administration of the Municipality, and Svetlana Krūminė, Deputy Head of the Legal Department, as members of the temporary board of the ZVC. Krūmiņa and Laimīte were appointed to the ZVC board on March 26.

The chairman of the company’s board since April 2010 was Mārīte Sproģe, while the member of the board was Gundars Prolis, according to “Firmas.lv” data. Prolis is also one of the owners of the minority shareholder SIA “Kapitala pārvaldes sistemas”. According to Prolis’ income declaration, the current chairman of the board, Mārīte Sproģe, is the mother of Gundars Prolis.

Proli does not know the reasons for the dismissal of the board, and in addition, a few days ago, the press release published by the municipality of Jelgava region assessed the work of the board so far as excellent. “This decision is completely incomprehensible,” said Prolis.

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Meanwhile, the local government, referring to the information publicly provided by ZVC, informed that in 2022, compared to 2003, the amount of current assets of the institution has increased more than 10 times – from 72,078 euros to 848,757 euros. The company’s profit during the entire duration of the concession, which as of September 30, 2022 is 1.4 million euros, has not been distributed, but accumulated.

Prolis says that when the members of the board were dismissed from their positions, they were also provided with compensation, but they were not due in the event that no confidence was expressed in the board, which actually happened. The reason for expressing no confidence is that the board did not cooperate with the municipality, which Prolis called “slander”.

“Raiding” is currently taking place in order to push aside the minority shareholder and take away the right of pre-emption of the company’s shares, Prolis thinks. This can be done by changing the board of the company and then changing the articles of association for the board. “Obviously, this will be the next step,” says the current board member.

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“Capital management systems” are ready to buy back part of ZVC from the municipality, if there is such an opportunity, and have repeatedly addressed the Jelgava County Council with letters, expressing such a desire, Prolis knew how to tell.

In response to the statement of the former board member of ZVC, the municipality of Jelgava region claimed that it follows a legally correct procedure “so that the process of expropriation of capital shares of the capital company could move forward”. The municipality emphasizes that it is the holder of a controlling stake and has its own rights in the process of expropriation of capital shares.

The municipality also emphasizes that the Commercial Law does not guarantee the owner of 11% capital shares a seat on the board of the company, and such rights are not provided for the minority shareholder in the statutes of SIA “Zemgales sevysans centrs” either. When the municipality acts in accordance with the regulatory enactments, its legality is monitored by the Register of Enterprises, moreover, it is a rational, economic action, using the participant’s rights, the municipality insists. Taking into account that the minority shareholder has pointed out the possible legal proceedings against the municipality, it is in the interest of the municipality not to harm the reputation of SIA “Zemgales sevysans centrs” with various assumptions, the municipality said.

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As reported, in the spring of 2023, SIA “CSE COE” and the Competition Council evaluated the tasks delegated by the municipality in the context of ZVC with the services provided in the field of healthcare, recommending to maintain direct participation until the end of the Concession Agreement and then expropriate the capital shares.

At the meeting of October 25, 2023, the Jelgava County Council decided to try to sell its capital shares of SIA “Zemgales sevysans centrs” at an auction.

The municipality owns the largest share – 88.19% – of the center’s capital shares, the starting price of which is set at 2.56 million euros according to the estimates of the appraiser hired. The evaluation was carried out by SIA “Interbaltija”.

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The decision was made with 11 votes for (Dainis Liepiņš (LRA), Dina Tauriņa (LRA), Emīls Dobrājs (LA), Gundars Liepa (NA), Ilze Vītola (LZS), Juris Lavenieks (LZS), Juris Razživins (LZS), Lolita Duge (LZS), Madars Lasmanis (LA), Oskars Cīrulis (NA), Vidmants Rinkuns (LRA)); six votes against (Andris Ozoliņš (LZP), Artūrs Semjonovs (JV), Ęirts Neija (LZP), Irina Dolgova (Saskaņa), Jānis Kažotnieks (LZP), Uldis Ainārs (JV)); Jānis Počas (LZS) abstaining and Pēteris Veļeckis (LZS) not participating in the vote.

For the sale of capital shares, the city council expected to choose a legal service provider in an outsourced service that matches the professional competence. On December 13, 2023, the municipality signed a contract with SIA “ZAB Vilgerts” for outsourcing.

Photo: from the archive