The chair may also wobble under the minister.
Today it became known that the Prosecutor General's Office has initiated a criminal process "regarding possible criminal acts related to the unlawful provision of support to wood processing enterprises, thereby causing damage to JSC 'Latvijas valsts meži'.
Let us remind you: back in late 2023, the government, relying on information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, instructed JSC 'Latvijas valsts meži' to withdraw from previously concluded contracts for the sale of timber and sell these established volumes of timber at the market price that was relevant at that time. The fact is that long-term contracts between private wood processing companies and 'Latvijas valsts meži' were concluded before the crisis in the wood processing industry, that is, at old, high prices. By the end of 2023, however, the price of timber in the market had sharply decreased, and if private companies were to purchase raw materials at the old price, they would incur huge losses. Therefore, the Ministry of Agriculture decided to support this business through the government. The scandal erupted only two years later - when journalists raised this issue at the end of 2025, suspecting the Ministry of Agriculture of organizing illegal support for private business, which allegedly resulted in 'Latvijas valsts meži' losing about 50 million euros. Representatives of the 'Progressives' party took the opportunity to "bite" their sworn enemies in the government - the Union of Greens and Farmers - and submitted a corresponding statement to the Prosecutor General's Office. It should be noted that the head of the Ministry of Agriculture is Armands Krauze from the Union of Greens and Farmers. Krauze, by the way, to dispel all speculation, also wrote to the Prosecutor General's Office to verify the validity of the accusations of allegedly illegal support for the industry.
And now a criminal process has been initiated. It cannot be ruled out that coalition partners will now start pressuring the "green farmers" to persuade Armands Krauze to resign - in order not to interfere with the investigation while simultaneously taking political responsibility.
In addition, it is possible that Prime Minister Evika Silina will decide to suspend the current director of the State Chancellery, Raivis Kronbergs, during the investigation by the Prosecutor General's Office, who was the state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture at the time of the support to wood processors and prepared the relevant documents.
