📋 Tender Overview
As of January 1, 2026, Arturs Kokars, who until now held the position of director of the Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport, has been appointed as the deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Transport (MoT). Kokars areas of responsibility include mobility and cross-sectoral, development and financial planning, investment, as well as information technology issues. Transport development planning is becoming more and more an interdisciplinary policy, and the challenges that the industry has to solve are largely related to sustainability issues. I am pleased that the management team of the ministry will be strengthened by a high-level specialist with management experience in the state administration and the private sector in the aviation industry. While working in the MoU, he has already proven himself to be an excellent strategist and team leader. I wish him strength and success in his new position, comments State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Andulis Zidkovs. Arturs Kokars has been working as the director of SM Aviation since April 2021, for a year from January 2024 he served as the chairman of the board of JSC Passenger Train. In parallel with his work at SM, Kokars is an assistant professor at Ventspils University. Before joining the SM team, he was a member of the board of the association Latvijas Aviacijas Asociacija, an advisor to the chairman of the board of VAS Starptautiska lidosta Riga, and also held leading positions in companies in the aviation industry. Kokar has a Doctor of Science degree (Ph.D) in social sciences, obtained at Ventspils University. He also has a masters degree in law and finance, obtained at the Riga Law School, and a professional masters degree in business management, obtained at the Ventspils University. In an open competition for the position of deputy state secretary, 77 applications were received, the competition took place in two rounds. An open competition will be announced for the position of the director of the Aviation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Signe Eauhite, who until now held the position of deputy director in the department, has been appointed as the acting director of the department. An external audit was conducted in the MoU 2025 in order to evaluate the functions of the ministry and their effective operation according to the changes that have taken place in the sector in recent years. Based on the final audit report, the ministry has redistributed functions in structural units, identified new initiatives, as well as reviewed processes and redistributed and improved the duties of employees, thus ensuring more efficient use of human resources. The new structure of the MoU enters into force on January 1, 2026.
