Dzintari Concert Hall May Be Transformed into an Agency

Commenting on why a new board member was not selected in the competition, the politician noted that if the enterprise is 80% funded by municipal subsidies, it can no longer be considered a limited liability company (SIA) that is supposed to generate profit. In this case, it should either be an agency or an institution.

"Therefore, continuing the competition and looking for board members in the form of SIA is not suitable for us, as the Dzintari concert hall will likely become an agency in March. Then there will no longer be board members, there will be a completely different structure and a different salary system," said the chairman of the council.

He added that it would be unfair if someone were to apply for the position of a board member, only to find out later that such a position no longer exists.

"The second aspect is that we have a specific situation. Guntars Kirsis left the position of artistic director; he raised the bar artistically, but we also need to look at the economic side so that the Dzintari concert hall not only thrives artistically but is also properly managed," acknowledged Ledinsh.

He noted that Kirsis was outstanding as an artistic director, but the mayor had many complaints about him in the economic sphere. "Perhaps we trusted too much, and the mistake was indeed in controlling the economic side," commented the chairman of the council.

The municipality is also considering the idea of granting the Dzintari concert hall the status of a regional concert hall.

"If the state wants to buy it, we are also ready to sell the Dzintari concert hall to the state. It is not a cheap pleasure; our subsidy is about 800,000 euros each year," said Ledinsh.

He added that state and European funding is only available if the concert hall is located at least 70 kilometers from Riga, which means that the Dzintari concert hall is entirely on the shoulders of the municipality.