Neil Ushakov appealed the dismissal from the post of mayor of Riga

The former mayor of Riga Neil Ushakov appealed in court the decision of the Minister of Environmental Protection and the Regional Development of Latvia, Yuris Puts on his removal, reports TASS with reference to the Agency of Summer. As the agency was told in the public relations department of the Riga Duma, the detached mayor will inform the details of his decision at a press conference on Tuesday, May 7.

The minister’s decision can be appealed in the administrative district court within 30 days after its publication. The PUCE order was published on April 5, so the last date of its appeal is May 5.

Recall that in the official government blessings of Latvijas Vestnesis, on April 5, the PUCE was published on the dismissal of the mayor of Riga. The document listed violations committed by Ushakov as mayor, which mainly relate to the relationship of the city with the municipal transport enterprise Rigas Satiksme. The claims concerned the reflection in the reporting of changes in the size of the authorized capital of the company, as well as budget investments in it.

As indicated in the document, the responsibility for all inconsistencies in the reporting is directly borne by Ushakov as the mayor of the Latvian capital and the holder of the share of the capital Rigas Satiksme.

On January 30, employees of the Bureau for the Prevention and Control of Latvia Corruption conducted searches in the office and houses of the mayor of Riga as part of a criminal case associated with the Rigas Satiksme city public transport enterprise, around which a corruption scandal about a bribe of 800 thousand euros has erupted.

According to investigators, the money was received in connection with the supply of about 200 buses and trolleybuses for competitions in Riga, which this enterprise conducted in 2013 - 2016. As part of the investigation, more than 30 searches were conducted and eight people were detained in Latvia and Poland. Five of them were arrested by a court decision.

Against the backdrop of a corruption scandal, all five members of the Rigas Satiksme board announced, including the head of the enterprise Leon Bemhens, who was later detained and arrested, as well as Vice Mayor Riga Andris Americans. In turn, Latvian nationalists demanded the resignation of the mayor of Riga. According to the results of two votes on the expression of trust in him, the mayor retained his post.

The former head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Caspers Gerhards, transferred the bill on the dissolution of the Riga City Hall to the government, but the government postponed its consideration, and the former prime minister called this document a legal marriage. The Latvian Union of Self -Government and the Latvian Association of large cities also indicated its unfoundedness.

The mayor himself said that he did not commit unlawful and criminally punishable acts. According to him, no procedural status to him is applicable and suspicions of him have not been expressed.