“Maybe 2700 euros?” – the head of the Riga housing management forgot the size of his salary 0 12

Anatomy of a Household from Personal Experience

Here’s what public scrutiny does! Now, thanks to the construction information system bis.gov.lv, I know the names and surnames of all the apartment owners in our 9-story building, and how they voted! In our house, we have what you might call a "wonderful neighbor" – we have Latvians, Russians, and people of Armenian and Korean descent living among us. There are also Russian citizens, easily identifiable by their last names – they do not have the usual ending on S in their documents.

The process of re-signing contracts with SIA Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks in our typical apartment building on Ilūkstes Street in the Purvciems residential area went, as they say, without fanaticism. In the survey, slightly more apartment owners expressed support for continuing cooperation with the municipal company than against it. But both groups turned out to be less than half. This means – everything is as it was.

For the year 2026, the company set its management price at 0.73 euros per square meter. It promised to carry out repair work based on savings of 0.40 euros per meter. And in the budget for 2026, it honestly stated that it intends to spend 27,785.28 euros on roof waterproofing – all that will be collected from our 5,788.6 square meters. Not touching, we note, the main fund of 63,477.5 euros. If only everyone had such monetary policy! Indeed, the Ministry of Finance of Latvia should be sent for an internship with housing managers to learn how to balance the budget.

The Board Members Sit

The chairman of the board of SIA RNP, Māris Ozoliņš, was subjected to a cross-examination by deputies who grilled the manager about the infamous company brand (its creation was decided to be suspended), and about the electronic platform Eparvaldnieks, where it was impossible to vote, and one had to go to the construction portal, which requires authorization. This is quite difficult for many who are not computer-savvy.

– From what type of management did the profit arise? – asked deputy Sergejs Dolgopolovs ("Sovereign Power/New Latvians") the chairman of the RNP council, Ainārs Ozols. He did not hesitate to respond that the main activity of the enterprise is managing residential buildings, where everything is more or less stable, and thanks to the government's care, it was possible to recover from the bank the funds that were poorly invested by the previous management – hence, it was possible to pay more dividends to the Riga City Council, as the owner.

Mr. Ozols also explained that part of RNP’s profit is invested in "digital solutions," but he "does not wish to delve into issues outside his competence: the enterprise provides services, for which it charges clients a fair fee."

“Behind Every House is a Specific Name”

Such staffing stability was confirmed by the head of the RNP board, Māris Ozoliņš. There are, of course, procurement contracts that are delegated to both the board and him personally. The head of the enterprise, appointed as a result of an open competition, previously worked in the fields of construction and information technology – and he learned about managing the residential fund, as they say, on the go.

The enterprise's experts, according to the manager, conduct constant monitoring: "It all depends on the size of the house, on what is there. They do this continuously throughout the year. Clearly, you cannot send someone to inspect 3,400 houses. This is, of course, unrealistic. Therefore, the schedule is divided, and each month some part is inspected..."

Mr. Ozoliņš admitted that the campaign to re-sign contracts was started late. But here he shifted the blame to the Saeima. Indeed, if we look at the Likumi.lv portal, when the latest version of the Law on the Management of Residential Houses came into effect, we find July 16 of this year. And it was also necessary to prepare the proposal from RNP for the residents so that the Consumer Protection Center would not contest it.

111 Thousand Euros Salary a Year – Is This Normal?

Such a level of income for Mr. Ozoliņš was announced by deputy Rudolf Bremanis ("Sovereign Power/New Latvians"). More precisely, according to the declaration for vid.gov.lv – 111,113 euros a year.

He noted that housing managers in Riga earn about the same as officials in Singapore, one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In defense of corporate solidarity, Mr. Ozols stated:

– We wanted to invite professionals from the private sector who would be willing to come manage a state enterprise. Of course, we thought like thrifty owners: how much should we offer so that we wouldn’t pay too much, but at the same time get competent and good managers. I believe we did quite well, – summarized the council head, – but yes, we are in a market economy, and the labor market is the labor market.

Ainārs Ozols himself leads a busy work life: "I have paperwork, I have meetings on the council agenda, and here I am with you." When asked to clarify his own salary figure, the head of the RNP council admitted: "Honestly, I can’t say for sure. Maybe 2700, I might be off by a euro."

“Many Clients Are Leaving”

Such a verdict regarding the management practices of RNP was expressed by the leader of the "Latvia First" faction, Ainārs Šlesers.

– What are we talking about?! Who could afford to run a business in the private sector in such a way that the indicators worsened? It looks like some kind of scheme: give a bad contract so that the houses being managed go to others... This is wastefulness.

However, the "progressive" deputy Mārtiņš Kossovičs stated that the negative context of the enterprise’s work is not formed by objective indicators, but because the opposition paints it that way. Supposedly, "everything is bad, everyone is a fraud, everyone is stealing." He himself lived in an apartment building and assesses the situation differently: "Am I satisfied with the work of Rīgas namu pārvaldnieks? Yes. Can it be better? Of course, yes!"

Well, dear readers, it’s up to you to choose who will manage your houses. After all, it is you who vote "for" or "against" with your hard-earned euros.