Uldis Augulis (born 16 March 1972, in Dobele,

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

) is a Latvian politician and a member of the Union of Greens and Farmers. He holds a bachelor's degree in

financial management Financial management is the business function concerned with profitability, expenses, cash and credit, so that the "organization may have the means to carry out its objective as satisfactorily as possible;" the latter often defined as maximizi ...

from the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

. He was the former Welfare Minister from 12 March 2009 to 3 November 2010, the Minister of Transport from 3 November 2010 to 25 October 2011 and the acting Minister of Justice from March to April 2010. Augulis was elected to the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular ...

on October 2, 2011.

Career timeline

2008 – 2009 - Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Welfare 2007 – 2008 - Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture 2006 – 2008 Member of Parliament (Saeima), 2000 – 2006 Chairman of Berze Rural Municipality Since 1996 Owner of the Farm “Auguļi”, 1990 – 1996 Co-owner of the Farm “Īves” Other positions held: 2003 – 2006 Chairman of the Council, Dobele City Bus Fleet, Ltd. 2000 – 2006 Chairman of the Board, Dobele Department of Political Party Latvian Farmer's Union 2001 – 2006 Member of the Council, Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments 2003 – 2006 Member of the EU Committee of the Regions 2005 – 2006 Chairman of the Advisory Council, State Agency K.Ulmanis Memorial Museum Pikšas.

Controversy

Augulis caused controversy with his prioritisation of road and rail links between

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

while delaying regional EU projects such as

Rail Baltica Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeship ...

citing a lack of funds. Latvia has already lost EUR 12.2 million (LVL 8.54 million) of EU funds due to hesitation over the Rail Baltica project, and the EU Transport Commissioner has stated there is no chance that the EU will contribute funds to the proposed Moscow link despite Augulis' assertion that the EU could contribute up to 85%. The high-speed railroad project between Riga and Moscow is economically justified due to increasing passenger and cargo turnover, and it is not political, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said after a meeting with Augulis.

References

1972 births Living people People from Dobele Latvian Farmers' Union politicians Ministers of Welfare of Latvia Transport ministers of Latvia Deputies of the 9th Saeima Deputies of the 10th Saeima Deputies of the 11th Saeima Deputies of the 12th Saeima Deputies of the 13th Saeima Deputies of the 14th Saeima University of Latvia alumni {{Latvia-politician-stub