Elksninis income increased 2.5 times last year. What does the chairman of the Daugavpils council own?

The income of Daugavpils City Council Chairman Andrejs Elksniņš increased 2.5 times last year, reaching 67,531 euros, according to his public official’s declaration published on the website of the State Revenue Service (SRS).

Most read

Numerology and the magic of numbers: how your phone number affects your destiny and when to change it?

TV24

“It sounds like we’ve been having fun.” About injustice and allowances for those pensioners who worked during the Soviet era

Don’t throw it away, keep using it – 10 practical everyday uses for your old smartphone

Read other posts

In 2023, Elksniņš received a salary of 67,231 euros for his work in Daugavpils city council, while in 2022, Elksniņš’s salary in the municipality was only 26,593 euros. In both 2023 and 2022, Elksniņš received 300 euros in benefits from the State Social Insurance Agency.

According to the declaration, Elksniņš uses two apartments in Daugavpils.

Elksniņš has declared a loan of 50,000 euros. The politician has been showing such a loan amount in his official declarations since 2011.

Elksniņš stated in the declaration that in the Daugavpils City Council, in addition to being the head of the municipality, he also held the position of a member of the Urban Planning and Environment Committee. As recently as last year, Elksniņš held the position of a member of the board of “Saskaņas”, but the data of “Firmas.lv” show that he left the board of the party last March.

According to reports, the SRS has started an examination of the compliance of Elksniņš’s expenses as a natural person with official income, SRS head Baiba Šmite-Roķe revealed in an interview with Latvian Television (LTV) program “One to One” in March.

Previously, the SRS informed that, when checking the declarations of Elksniņas’ public official for 2021 and 2022, only minor violations were found, therefore the administrative violation process that had started was terminated by reprimanding Elksniņas.

Šmite-Roķe revealed to LTV that the SRS is also conducting an assessment of Elksniņas’ income and expenses as a natural person. “This assessment is ongoing and ongoing. Usually, in such cases, not only the specific person is evaluated, but also the family members,” said the head of the SRS.

However, the SRS will not be able to publicly disclose the results of the inspection due to data protection of natural persons. Šmite-Roķe added that Elksniņš can apply to the SRS with a request for consent for the SRS to share the data analysis in this case.

Baltic Investigative Journalism Center “Re:Baltica” had studied the pictures of Elksniņš and his wife on social network profiles and the prices of the clothes and jewelry shown in them, concluding that their purchase did not correspond to their official income. According to journalists, the Elksniņas family lives in a way that cannot be afforded from the official income of a state official. For example, in one picture in May 2023, the mayor of Daugavpils was seen in a yellow polo shirt, which costs 700 euros new. On the other hand, in June, Elksniņš was seen in the shorts of the brand “Rhude”, the price of which is 500 euros. In yet another picture, the mayor was seen wearing a 2,500-euro “Zegna” winter jacket.

“Re:Baltica” together with watch connoisseurs from “Pulksteņu Sherlock” have identified that the mayor wears an “Ulysse Nardin” watch, the price of which may vary slightly depending on the included elements, but on average such a watch costs more than 30,000 euros. Ekaterina, the mayor’s wife, is also fond of luxury brands, who can be seen wearing Tiffany, Cartier and Chopard jewelry in several pictures, the publication reported.

Elksniņš did not want to comment on his expenses to journalists. “I will not comment, because everything that is related to my public sphere is in my declaration as a public official. That’s one thing. The second thing is that SRS can give an assessment regarding the adequacy of my financial situation. Both for me and for my family members, who are sufficiently provided for,” said the mayor of Daugavpils.

The declaration of Elksniņš’s official shows that the politician had two apartments in Daugavpils in use at the end of 2022. In 2022, Elksniņš received 26,592.67 euros as a salary from the council. In 2022, 300 euros were received from the State Social Insurance Agency.

According to the declaration, Elksniņš had issued loans worth 50,000 euros at the end of 2022. At the same time, Elksniņš had not presented the car, nor had he presented cash and non-cash savings exceeding 20 minimum monthly wages.

Themes