# Andris Kulbergs

# Andris Kulbergs

Andris Kulbergs (born 26 May 1979) is a Latvian businessman and politician. He has served as prime minister of Latvia since the Saeima confirmed his cabinet on 28 May 2026. He is not a member of any political party. In 2022 he was elected to the Saeima on the United List (Apvienotais saraksts), then in opposition, representing an association founded by the entrepreneur Uldis Pīlēns that was later renamed Latvijas restarts, an association whose leadership he took over.

He studied at Riga Commercial School and earned a bachelor's degree in international business at Concordia International University in Tallinn. His curriculum vitae listed study from 2007 to 2015 on an MBA programme at Riga Business School; on 1 October 2026 his communications adviser, Elīna Šverna, told Jauns.lv that he had not graduated and that the entry recorded courses taken, not a diploma. Before parliament he worked at Lattelecom, now Tet, as a marketing-programmes manager and international-relations manager, was managing director of Auto Torino and regional manager of Auto Group Baltic, and headed the Inchcape group's business in Latvia. Baltic News Network dates a regional-manager role at Inchcape Motors Latvia to 2008–2013 and a regional and development-manager role at the Dutch firm GeesinkNorba to 2013–2022. Since 2006 he has held management posts at the Latvian Auto Association, and he has sat on the council of the Employers' Confederation of Latvia.

In the 14th Saeima he chaired a parliamentary inquiry into problems and cost increases in the Rail Baltica project, which he argued required the prime minister's oversight, and a second inquiry into rising district-heating costs at Rīgas siltums. On 16 May 2026 President [Edgars Rinkēvičs](/people/edgars-rinkevics) nominated him to form a government. Prime Minister Evika Siliņa had resigned on 14 May. LSM reported that the coalition had in practice broken up the day before, after [the Progressives](/organizations/the-progressives) withdrew support following her dismissal of Defence Minister Andris Sprūds over a drone incident in Rēzekne. The Saeima approved the new cabinet on 28 May by 66 votes to 25. It was Latvia's 43rd Cabinet and the third of the 14th Saeima. The coalition joined the United List with [New Unity](/organizations/new-unity), the [National Alliance](/organizations/national-alliance) and the Union of Greens and Farmers. Politico reported that he set security and counter-drone measures as a priority, and quoted him saying that the economy and security were inseparable.

On 3 October 2026 the United List won the election to the 15th Saeima. With all 1,059 polling stations included, the Central Election Commission recorded 283,892 votes for the list, 35.288 percent of valid ballot envelopes, and 41 of 100 seats. Turnout was 51.79 percent, 806,641 voters out of 1,557,615 eligible. Latvia First took 17 seats, [Sovereign Power](/organizations/sovereign-power)/Young Latvians 15, the National Alliance 10, the Progressives 10 and New Unity 7, while the Union of Greens and Farmers, on 4.401 percent, took none. Brussels Signal described the 41 seats as the strongest result for a single list since the restoration of independence in 1991, above the 36 seats won by [Latvian Way](/organizations/latvian-way) in 1993. On election night, with 88 percent of ballots counted, the Japan Times reported the list near 36.6 percent and described it as centrist and pro-Ukraine, in a vote held as Baltic governments warned of Russian sabotage and other hybrid activity directed at NATO countries.

On 6 October, after meeting every list elected to the new parliament, Rinkēvičs said Kulbergs should form the next government, and that a formal nomination had to wait because the 14th Saeima still held its mandate. He said he expected substantial progress in the talks by the beginning of November. The new Saeima is due to convene on 3 November. Kulbergs said on election night that he did not want Latvia First in a coalition and that talks would begin with New Unity and the National Alliance, which together with the United List hold 58 seats.

## Early life and education

### Family and childhood

Andris Kulbergs was born on 26 May 1979 and is a native of Riga, Latvia. His father, Viktors Kulbergs (29 February 1948 – 10 March 2013), was an automotive engineer who restored antique vehicles. In 1972 he founded the Latvian Antique Automobile Club and chaired it until 1990.

On his initiative the Riga Motor Museum was built and opened in 1989. Viktors Kulbergs later founded the Riga dealership Auto Rīga and, in 1994, the Latvian Authorised Automobile Dealers Association, afterwards renamed the Auto Association, which he chaired. He received the Order of the Three Stars, and in October 2002 a French national order. In May 2002 he agreed to sell Auto Rīga in full to Norway's Moller Group; he held 80 percent of the company and his son Andris 11 percent.

A 2026 profile in *Ir* identified his mother as Elena. In the same interview he said his father had left him unwilling to live an unremarkable life and convinced that one should leave a legacy of work done. Viktors Kulbergs died of cancer in March 2013, having finished a memoir, *Neiespējamā misija* (*An Impossible Mission*), written with Nora Ikstena and published that May.

### Schooling and university

His secondary schooling was in Riga. A Latvian News Agency biography issued when he was nominated for prime minister in May 2026 states that he attended Riga Secondary School No. 50 and Rīgas Komercskola (Riga Commercial School). Latvian public television and radio have also recorded studies at Rīgas Komercskola, and the Barcelona centre CIDOB describes the stage as a commercial secondary education in his native city. Those accounts do not give the years spent at each school.

He then studied in Tallinn. His 2022 Saeima candidate filing, as published by LSM, lists a single higher qualification: a 2002 bachelor's degree in international business from the International Concordia University (Starptautiskā Konkordijas Universitāte), and does not list later graduate study. LSM's 2026 profile uses the same description of the bachelor's degree. The prime minister's office, and a LETA note carried by LA.lv in October 2026, have described the Concordia qualification as a bachelor's degree in economics and business, with a specialization in international business management. Concordia International University Estonia was a private English-language institution. In the summer of 2003, after Kulbergs had graduated, its curricula, faculty, staff and students passed to Audentes University and continued as International University Concordia Audentes, which in 2007 became International University Audentes; in July 2008 that university was merged into the Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration of Tallinn University of Technology.

From 2007 to 2015 his curriculum vitae listed studies toward an MBA in international business and commerce at Riga Business School, part of Riga Technical University. The school, founded in 1991 with the University at Buffalo and the University of Ottawa, awards an English-language MBA. CIDOB and the October 2026 LETA text treat that entry as a completed professional master's degree. On 1 October 2026 the prime minister's communications adviser, Elīna Šverna, told Jauns.lv that he had not graduated and had not received an MBA diploma, and that the CV recorded a period in which several courses were finished rather than a diploma. Jauns.lv said material in its possession showed five courses—three in a first spring session, two of them with final marks, and two passed in April 2008—equal to 16 Latvian credit points, or 24 under the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. Citing the school's site, the article said the MBA required 15 courses and a thesis, normally over two to three and a half years, and noted that the school itself had not confirmed the course count.

## Business career

### Telecommunications and vehicle distribution

Before the 2022 Saeima election, Andris Kulbergs’s private-sector work ran from telecommunications into vehicle distribution. Public broadcaster LSM lists an early role at Lattelekom, now Tet, as marketing-programme manager and international-relations manager, without giving years. The same profile names him managing director of SIA Auto Torino and regional manager of SIA Auto Group Baltic, again without dates.

By December 2007 he was Auto Group Baltic’s regional manager for Latvia and was quoted describing the company as the Volkswagen importer for the Baltic states, at the opening of a dealership in Daugavpils. He still held that title in February 2008.

From 2008 to 2013 he was regional manager in Latvia for the United Kingdom-based Inchcape group and head of its Latvian companies. Inchcape Motors Latvia had begun in 2005 as a Mazda and Jaguar dealer; in the summer of 2007 the group bought Baltic Motors and BM Auto. A January 2009 company statement, carried by TVNET, said the three firms together held 12.7 percent of the Latvian market as of November 2008 and represented Alpina, BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda and MINI. In that statement Kulbergs, identified as head of the group in Latvia, said the companies would be combined during 2009 under the Inchcape name. The plan closed Mazda and Ford showrooms in Liepāja and Ventspils from February 2009, shifted Mazda and Jaguar work, and removed 79 jobs, with service for existing Ford and Mazda owners offered in Riga.

In a 2026 interview he described the Great Recession restructuring as three waves of dismissals that, on his account, took the business from 378 employees and losses of €8 million to 120 employees, from five showrooms to two, and to a profit of €400,000. He said a showroom was filled with sand and used for volleyball so heating bills could be paid, and that he left Inchcape in 2013 because what remained needed a manager for one showroom rather than a turnaround. Those later figures are his recollection; the contemporary announcement was the smaller 2009 cut.

From 2013 to 2022 he was regional and development manager at GeesinkNorba in Emmeloord, in the Netherlands, a maker of refuse-collection and waste-handling equipment. He told *Ir* that he ran the export department and sought representation in the Baltic states, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan and elsewhere, and that exports grew from 4 percent to 38 percent of turnover. He also said that on 23 February 2022 the factory had signed a €26 million contract for equipment for St Petersburg, that the Russian counter-signature did not arrive after the invasion of Ukraine the next day, and that he would not travel to Russia while helping the company deal with assets there. The published biographies date the GeesinkNorba post through 2022, the year he entered parliament.

A LETA summary of his official declaration, published in May 2026, said that at the end of the previous year he held 975 shares in Inchcape plc, with a nominal value of £7,795, and 200 shares in SIA VK Development, with a nominal value of €2,800.

### Trade association and board roles

LETA biographies state that from 2006 Kulbergs held a series of leadership posts in the dealers’ association later referred to as Auto Asociācija. *Ir* reported that his father, Viktors Kulbergs, founded that association in 1994. Contemporary reporting used the name Latvijas Pilnvaroto autotirgotāju asociācija (LPAA). On 7 February 2008 its council was re-elected and Kulbergs joined it as Auto Group Baltic’s regional manager in Latvia; the council chose Māris Bensons, of Honda dealer Bensons Auto, as president. By 4 June 2011 *Dienas Bizness* was quoting Kulbergs as LPAA president, arguing that political instability after President [Valdis Zatlers](/people/valdis-zatlers) moved to dismiss the Saeima would weaken car demand and could delay public vehicle purchases.

On 18 March 2022 the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK) elected a council for three years that included Kulbergs as board chairman and president of Auto Asociācija. He told *Ir* that he had already represented the association on the council and had argued there about the transport side of the European green course. A CIDOB political biography states that his LDDK membership lasted until February 2023.

The association office continued alongside his parliamentary mandate. LSM’s 2024 [European Parliament](/organizations/european-parliament) candidate page listed him as chairman of the board of Auto Asociācija while he was a deputy. The May 2026 LETA biography, repeated by *Latvijas Avīze* after the October 2026 election, described him as a board member rather than chairman.

The same LETA career summary places him, during the 2008–2013 Inchcape period, on the boards of SIA Latvijas pilnvaroto autotirgotāju centrs, SIA Baltic Motors Ventspils, the Latvian auto-body repairers’ association, SIA Baltijas īpašumu fonds, SIA BM Līzings, SIA Ventmotors, SIA Inchcape BM Auto, SIA Inchcape Insurance Services and SIA Ērmans.

## Entry into politics

### The 2022 Saeima election

Andris Kulbergs first stood for the Saeima in 2022, as a non-party candidate for Apvienotais saraksts (the United List). The list registered with the Central Election Commission under the name "Apvienotais saraksts — Latvijas Zaļā partija, Latvijas Reģionu Apvienība, Liepājas partija", combining the Latvian Green Party, the [Latvian Association of Regions](/organizations/latvian-association-of-regions) and the Liepāja Party. The Liepāja architect and businessman Uldis Pīlēns was named the alliance's candidate for prime minister, but he was not among the Saeima candidates the list submitted.

The parties and an association Pīlēns was forming had announced the platform in May 2022. On 18 June the Liepāja Party's congress voted, 80 delegates and without debate, to end cooperation with the Union of Greens and Farmers and join the new alliance; the other two parties had already agreed to run on it. Armands Krauze, the Union of Greens and Farmers' leader, said the Liepāja Party had been a partner rather than a member, and that his alliance had ended the agreement on 15 June. Pīlēns said he had taken on the project's management and that a separate association, limited to four years, would let non-party professionals stand or advise.

At a press conference on 1 July 2022 he presented that body, Apvienotais Latvijas saraksts, and its first members. They included Kulbergs, a council member of the Employers' Confederation of Latvia, with the confederation's president Andris Bite, its director-general Līga Meņģelsone, Aiva Vīksna, former police general Artis Velšs and retired colonel Igors Rajevs. Kulbergs said Russia's invasion of Ukraine was why he would no longer stay aside, and he described the association as not itself a political force. Pīlēns said its statutes allowed non-party members and that many were preparing to run. On the election register Kulbergs gave his posts as chair of the board of VK Development and of the Auto Association, and as an employers'-confederation council member. He did not join any of the three parties; the association he represented was later renamed Latvijas Restarts.

Polling was on 1 October 2022. Of those eligible, 916,368 voted, a turnout of 59.41 percent. Kulbergs was fourth on the Riga list, after Didzis Šmits, Ilze Ortveina and Rajevs. Under the open-list formula, a candidate's district total equals the list's valid ballots there plus personal plus-marks minus strike-throughs. In Riga that gave Kulbergs 22,606 — 20,513 list ballots, 2,919 pluses and 826 strike-throughs — and third place on the list.

The Commission confirmed the result on 17 October. The United List received 100,631 votes, 11.01 percent, and 15 seats, behind New Unity on 26 and the Union of Greens and Farmers on 16. Four of the 15 were in Riga: Rajevs, Šmits, Kulbergs and Lauris Lizbovskis. Five more were in Vidzeme, three in Kurzeme, two in Zemgale and one in Latgale, so Kulbergs entered the 14th Saeima. Elected alongside him were the member parties' list leaders Edvards Smiltēns (Vidzeme), former prime minister Māris Kučinskis (Kurzeme), Edgars Tavars (Zemgale) and Juris Viļums (Latgale).

### European Parliament candidacy

On 8 June 2024 Kulbergs stood in the election of Latvia's members of the European Parliament. He was eighth on the United List's slate of 18 and was still listed as a deputy of the 14th Saeima and chair of the Auto Association. The candidates placed ahead of him were Reinis Pozņaks, Juris Viļums, Raimonds Bergmanis, Edgars Putra, Māris Sprindžuks, Ieva Brante and Raivis Ragainis; Kučinskis was eighteenth.

The list received 42,551 votes, 8.18 percent, and one of Latvia's nine seats. The Commission's decision of 17 June 2024 gave that seat to Pozņaks, and Kulbergs was not elected. Of 1,541,102 eligible voters, 521,226 took part, a turnout of 33.82 percent. In Riga he received 721 pluses and 1,241 strike-throughs, against 4,927 pluses for Pozņaks, and the preference marks left the only mandate with the head of the list.

## Parliamentary record

### Committees and inquiries

Kulbergs was a deputy in the 14th Saeima from 1 November 2022 until 3 June 2026, in the United List group of the Latvian Green Party, the Latvian Association of Regions and the Liepāja Party. He was deputy chairman of the Sustainable Development Committee from 24 November 2022 to 27 September 2023, then deputy chairman of the Public Expenditure and Audit Committee from 4 October 2023 until he left parliament. He chaired the Environmental, Climate and Energy Subcommittee from 11 January to 28 November 2023, and from 30 November 2023 the Innovation Ecosystem Development Subcommittee.

He was a member, not the chair, of the 2023 inquiry into the financial-sector “overhaul.” Requested by 34 deputies and chaired by Vilis Krištopans, it was established on 31 January, held 21 meetings, and had its report considered on 7 September. Kulbergs sat on it from 23 February to 15 September. The report said many changes after Moneyval’s 2018 criticism had been necessary but that some were rushed, that banks were avoiding risk rather than managing it, and that customers were moving abroad. The remit also covered the insolvency of PNB Banka, the forced liquidation of ABLV Bank and the suspension of Baltic International Bank.

On 13 June 2024, again at the request of 34 deputies, the Saeima opened an inquiry into Rail Baltica. On 20 June Kulbergs was elected chair, with Kristaps Krištopans as secretary. He said the task was to find “when and under whose responsibility the Rail Baltica high-speed train fundamentally derailed,” why warnings had not been acted on in the company, the ministry, the Cabinet or parliament, and what the scope, money already spent, budget contribution and debt would be.

In August 2024 he said the scheme had left an approved simplified line, with Riga as a branch costed at €1.2 billion, for an unapproved “Riga loop” through the airport and other sites then under construction. A 2013 alternative, outsourced for €4 million, had reached the government in 2016 without, he said, a parliamentary mandate or a financial assessment, although papers on rising costs had gone to the Cabinet in 2013 and 2016. He added that key managers lacked project experience and that no one had assessed the project as a whole. Latvian Public Media put the cost at almost €24 billion, up from under €6 billion, with only a largely single-track first phase still aimed at 2030. In a July 2024 television interview he agreed that the project, the largest in Latvia’s history, could fail as “the biggest problem of the century” and affect every resident. A cost-benefit update cited by *Dienas Bizness* put the whole line at up to €23.8 billion and the first phase at €15.3 billion, of which Latvia’s share was €6.4 billion, against a 2017 estimate of €5.8 billion.

The committee approved its final report on 12 December 2024. Kulbergs and three other opposition members voted for it; the three coalition members abstained. He told LETA that a colour code—red for significant mistakes, orange for inaction, yellow for insufficient engagement—was “not an indictment board” but “a political assessment.” The Saeima records his chairmanship as ending on 26 December 2024.

### Infrastructure, energy and spending

Kulbergs was elected chair on 27 November. After 19 sittings, the Saeima considered the final report on 28 May 2026. It described surplus heat from combined-heat-and-power plants being vented while dearer heat was bought elsewhere, and estimated that €62 million to €79 million had been wasted. It blamed an incomplete market that kept prices near the tariff ceiling, and found unclear responsibility, possible conflicts of interest and questionable spending at Rīgas siltums, together with inaction by authorities that had known of the problem. It called for the cheapest available heat to be used first and for a long-term heating strategy. Kulbergs remained chair until 3 June 2026, when his membership ended.

On 16 April 2026 the Saeima granted airBaltic an unsecured €30 million loan, repayable by the end of August, by 49 votes to 23 with one abstention. Prime Minister Evika Siliņa linked the request to a Middle East crisis that had at least doubled aviation-fuel prices. New Unity, the Progressives and nearly all of the Union of Greens and Farmers voted in favour. United List and [Latvia First](/organizations/latvia-first) deputies were among the opponents; the National Alliance did not vote. Kulbergs said there was no clear restructuring plan and that €30 million was “like pouring steam onto the stones in a sauna,” with more needed by May. On his calculation, restructuring would take €300 million, not €30 million, and the public should be told that.

From the spending committee he questioned ministers on Rail Baltica’s implementation, supervision and place in the 2025 budget, on further state money for airBaltic, on heating, on funding for non-governmental organisations, on ministry information-technology purchases, and on the security of the electricity system.

On 30 October 2025 the Saeima voted 56 to 32, with two abstentions, to leave the [Istanbul Convention](/facts/istanbul-convention), the [Council of Europe](/organizations/council-of-europe) treaty on violence against women and domestic violence, after more than 13 hours. United List deputies were among those who had backed withdrawal at first reading. Kulbergs was one of three United List deputies, in a group of 13, who voted in neither reading. Around midday on 30 October he called from the rostrum for a referendum. President Edgars Rinkēvičs returned the law, and Delfi reported that the next decision was left to the following Saeima.

## Premiership

### Formation of the cabinet

On 28 May 2026 the Saeima approved Andris Kulbergs's cabinet by 66 votes to 25. It was Latvia's 43rd government and the third of the 14th Saeima, after Prime Minister Evika Siliņa resigned on 14 May and President Edgars Rinkēvičs asked Kulbergs to form a replacement. It was formed for the months before the 3 October election.

On 7 May drones entered from Russia: one struck an oil depot in Rēzekne without reported injuries or major damage, and another was believed to have come down near Viļāni. Officials had not confirmed the origin, though similar incidents had involved Ukrainian drones knocked off course, and Siliņa faulted warnings that reached phones only after the strike. Latvia First, the National Alliance and the United List demanded that Defence Minister Andris Sprūds, of The Progressives, resign. He did so on 10 May, after Siliņa said he had lost her trust and the public's; he said he was shielding the army from a campaign. Ukrainian Foreign Minister [Andrii Sybiha](/people/andrii-sybiha) said Russian electronic warfare had diverted Ukrainian drones from targets in Russia.

On 13 May the Progressives' nine deputies withdrew. Andris Šuvajevs said Siliņa had brought the government down by lining up Colonel Raivis Melnis to replace Sprūds, leaving New Unity and the Union of Greens and Farmers with 41 votes. Siliņa resigned on 14 May, blaming "political jealousy and narrow party interests." The same morning the anti-corruption bureau detained Agriculture Minister Armands Krauze, [the Greens](/organizations/the-greens) and Farmers' leader, and State Chancellery head Raivis Kronbergs over alleged price support for timber firms in contracts of Latvian State Forests. Siliņa dismissed Krauze, saying she would not accept "any shadow of suspicion."

On 16 May Rinkēvičs nominated Kulbergs, of the largest opposition group, the United List, and wanted a coalition outline, a division of posts and a draft declaration by 25 May, rather than leave a caretaker in office until the election. Kulbergs promised a "coalition of action" on security, the budget, the election and corruption. The Saeima confirmed a four-party cabinet of the United List, New Unity, the National Alliance and the Greens and Farmers; the Progressives were excluded.

Before the vote he named security, budget stabilisation, fair elections, and cartels and corruption. A declaration of about 1,500 words put anti-drone and border measures first, with compensation for drone losses, support for Ukraine, tighter residence rules, a review of base spending, a plan for Rail Baltica and a decision on airBaltic by August. The Saeima named Raivis Melnis (defence); [Baiba Braže](/people/baiba-braze), continuing, [foreign affairs](/organizations/foreign-affairs); Viktors Valainis, continuing, economics; Māris Kučinskis, finance; Jānis Dombrava, interior; Ilze Indriksone, education and science; Jānis Vitenbergs, climate and energy; Nauris Puntulis, culture; Reinis Uzulnieks, welfare; Rihards Kozlovskis, transport; Edvards Smiltēns, justice; Hosams Abu Meri, continuing, health; Edgars Tavars, smart administration and regional development; and Uldis Augulis, agriculture. Four posts each went to the United List (including the premiership), New Unity and the National Alliance, and three to the Greens and Farmers; only Braže and Indriksone were women.

### Security, the budget and state enterprises

On 9 June in Tallinn, at the Nordic-Baltic summit, Kulbergs and [President Volodymyr Zelenskyy](/people/volodymyr-zelenskyy) signed a defence agreement the Latvian cabinet had approved the same day: ten years, extendable, with about €110 million envisaged from Latvia in the first two years, still subject to government and, if necessary, Saeima consent. Ukraine was to transfer drone and air-defence experience. Kulbergs said Ukraine "knows best in the world how to fight drones," and told Estonian media that Ukrainian specialists would survey Latvia within a week. Zelenskyy's office, calling this Ukraine's sixth such deal, and Kulbergs both referred to joint production. The next day Kulbergs and Rinkēvičs said NATO jets, used that week to shoot down a drone over Latvia, were not a long-term answer.

On 9 September he said 2027 defence spending would be 5% of GDP, or 6.4% including internal security, and sought €7 billion over seven years from the European Union's next multiannual budget for the eastern flank. He cited war losses of about 1.8% of GDP on that flank and about €1 billion spent since 2022 on the Russian and Belarusian border, without a published derivation of the €7 billion. On 6 October the Finance Ministry proposed to halt non-essential contracts for the rest of 2026, with any of €50,000 or more needing ministerial or prime-ministerial approval, and estimated that a zero deficit by 2030 would take about €8.9 billion of consolidation from 2027 to 2030, about €2.5 billion of it in 2028.

The Saeima on 20 August, by 54 votes to 21, authorised about €30 million more of airBaltic bonds, beside €50 million already held and an 88% share. Kulbergs said the state should not own an airline but that this was a "last chance" and there was "no plan B." The Greens and Farmers opposed the law; the first reading needed the Progressives' votes. He told Estonian broadcasters that €380 million of bonds sold in 2024 at 14.5% had left lenders in effective control, and that some €225 million of bridge finance was outstanding. On 14 September the government announced a United States Chapter 11 case, which he called a "protective shield" so that flights could continue, rather than a proposed loan of up to €257 million at 25% a year that he said would not clear old debts and leases.

In June he said Latvia's Rail Baltica section was the furthest behind, €3.7 billion short, and should be scaled from a "Bentley" to an "Opel." On 16 September he urged a joint Baltic approach to the [European Commission](/organizations/european-commission) for a first phase put at up to €14.3 billion, €5.5 billion to €6 billion of it in Latvia. On 1 October the cabinet capped the main line at €20 million a kilometre, from as much as €32 million, excluding large structures but including track, power and signalling: one track, with room for a second, and at most four regional stations, after the Baltic prime ministers had moved completion from 2030 to 2034. The Transport Ministry put Latvia's first phase near €7.5 billion, about €2 billion over an earlier forecast, and Kulbergs called the December 2023 contract with E.R.B. Rail JV highly unfavourable because compensation continued while work stood still.

## 2026 Saeima election

### Campaign

The election to the 15th Saeima, Latvia's 100-seat parliament, was held on Saturday, 3 October 2026. Fourteen lists were on every ballot. A list needed at least 5 percent of valid ballot envelopes nationwide before seats were divided among five constituencies.

Kulbergs campaigned as prime minister, having taken office in late May after Evika Siliņa stepped down amid the backlash over stray Ukrainian drones. Those months were treated as an audition for a full term. His list was the United List (Apvienotais saraksts), an alliance of the Latvian Green Party, the Latvian Regional Alliance and the Liepāja Party. Latvian Public Media described the programme as conservative and business-oriented and centred on Kulbergs, with pledges for a state-asset development fund, a narrower Rail Baltica, a 10 percent micro-enterprise tax and tax breaks for returning emigrants.

An SKDS survey of more than 2,000 citizens, from 4 to 16 September, still put the United List first at only 14.4 percent, ahead of Sovereign Power/Union of New Latvians (9.4 percent), Latvia First (9.2), the Progressives (6.2) and the National Alliance (5.6). New Unity was at 4.3 percent. Another 18.7 percent were undecided and 14.9 percent said they would not vote. Politico described a contest shaped by inflation, uncertainty over airBaltic, migration pressure it attributed to Russia and Belarus, and whether Kulbergs would need Ainārs Šlesers's Latvia First.

An exit poll by SKDS, Rīga Stradiņš University and LETA put the United List near 35 percent, more than the next three lists combined. Kulbergs told Latvian Television that voters wanted change and straight talking. About 11 percent had voted early. An hour after the close, turnout was about 50 percent, highest in Vidzeme and lowest in Riga.

### Results and coalition talks

The Central Election Commission count of all 1,059 stations, updated at 12:23 on 5 October, recorded 1,557,615 eligible voters and 806,641 participants (51.79 percent), 804,501 valid envelopes and 793,846 valid ballots. Shares below are of valid envelopes. The commission's record of the previous election gives turnout of 59.41 percent in 2022 (916,368 voters) and 54.6 percent in 2018. Latvian Public Media called 2026 the lowest turnout in a Saeima election.

The United List received 283,892 ballots, 35.288 percent, and 41 seats. That was 26 more seats than the 15 the same alliance won in 2022 for the Fourteenth Saeima. It was also more seats than the 36 won in 1993 by Latvia's Way (Savienība "Latvijas ceļš"), on 362,473 votes, or 32.41240 percent. The 2026 share is of valid envelopes, not the same base as the 1993 percentage. After the full count, Public Media described 41 seats as the most mandates any one list had taken in Latvian parliamentary history; an unfinished count had been reported as 42. Seats are fixed by constituency, so more votes nationwide can mean fewer mandates.

Six lists crossed the threshold. Latvia First was second, with 105,198 ballots (13.076 percent) and 17 seats. Sovereign Power / Union of New Latvians took 94,211 (11.710 percent) and 15. The National Alliance won 71,579 (8.897 percent) and 10 seats; the Progressives 63,382 (7.878 percent) and also 10; New Unity 51,183 (6.362 percent) and 7. The Union of Greens and Farmers, a partner in the outgoing coalition, missed the bar with 35,405 ballots (4.401 percent). Public Media said it was the first time in the alliance's 24 years that it would be out of parliament. In Latgale the United List was not first: Latvia First led with 25,174 ballots, ahead of the United List on 16,332 and Sovereign Power on 14,953.

In Riga, where Kulbergs was number one on the United List, the commission recorded 59,108 "for" marks and 991 "against." His open-list score — district ballots, minus crosses against, plus ticks for — was 142,277. From an earlier extract, Public Media said he led every candidate in plus-marks, then put at 58,489, almost twice Jūlija Stepaņenko of Sovereign Power/Union of New Latvians (29,679). The commission had not confirmed the deputy roll; Public Media's provisional list included him for Riga.

On 6 October, after meeting the six successful lists, President Edgars Rinkēvičs said he would entrust the next cabinet to Kulbergs. He said the parties respected the result and that the United List had broad, though not unanimous, support to open talks, calling 41 seats "something unique." The statement was political rather than a legal nomination, which can come only after the new Saeima meets on 3 November and the current government resigns. He hoped for a cabinet by Independence Day on 18 November, so work on the next budget could continue, and ideally a budget by Christmas. He asked the outgoing Saeima to avoid rushed decisions meanwhile, and left the coalition's width to Kulbergs.

Kulbergs said voters had mandated change: public finances, security, faster growth and a leaner administration, with fewer compromises than in May, when a cabinet was built in nine days. The United List would talk first with the National Alliance and New Unity; their 10 and 7 seats plus 41 would make 58. He ruled out Latvia First, citing among other reasons the election of former Rēzekne mayor Aleksandrs Bartaševičs, and said he wanted ministries cut from 14 to 11 without naming which. Edgars Tavars said a two-party majority with the National Alliance was arithmetically possible, but that a wider coalition was needed for unpopular decisions. As of 6 October, no date had been set for formal talks.

## Political positions

### Economy and administration

On 19 May 2026 Kulbergs told Latvian Radio that fuel prices and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz had changed the outlook, and that the budget should be reviewed as early as June by cutting expenditure rather than waiting for new revenue. "If we continue in this laxity, we will not be able to talk about all social matters in the future," he said.

The declaration of the cabinet he formed, published on 26 May, bound the United List, the National Alliance, the Union of Greens and Farmers and New Unity not to back budget measures in the Saeima or the cabinet unless every partner agreed. It aimed at a 2030 budget consistent with European fiscal rules, reviews of base expenditure, and a bureaucracy-reduction programme. Defence funding and the "Programme at School" were not to be cut; health spending was to rise, within the budget, toward 12 percent of general government expenditure. On 15 June he froze large information-technology procurements for 30 days, objecting to the purchase of service hours rather than finished systems after about €30 million had been spent that way in the first half of 2026.

### Foreign policy and defence

The same declaration allocated 5 percent of GDP to defence, more allied forces in Latvia, and unmanned systems, air defence and electronic warfare on the border. It promised "comprehensive support" for Ukraine, measures "to weaken and isolate" Russia, no easing of sanctions on people already listed, and an end to exports and imports with Russia and Belarus, pressed inside the European Union. On 2 June he said he "unyieldingly insists" the links be cut—"an unnecessary dependence that only makes the situation worse"—but that the firms could not leave that market "in one day," and that their capacity "must be preserved" for defence. He confirmed exceptions without saying whether any other sector would qualify. In March 2024 the Saeima had rejected a United List draft demanding a total break; he called the milder New Unity text that passed a "limp document," with no action and no deadline.

On 9 June the cabinet backed a ten-year defence agreement with Ukraine, signed with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Tallinn, for about €110 million from Latvia over two years and Ukrainian help on drones and air defence, with spending still subject to government and Saeima approval. On 29 June he said a joint drone plant would be built in Latgale, and that counter-drone systems should remove the need to scramble aircraft for every incursion, calling aircraft "a very expensive and effective solution, but not the best and most productive." In a TVP World interview reported by *Nettavisen*, he called Ukrainian membership of NATO a "no-brainer," backed EU accession, and said 5 percent of GDP from Latvia, Estonia or Lithuania should rise to 25 percent, possible "only" with a strong economy. On 9 September he said 5 percent, or 6.4 percent with internal security, still could not defend the EU's external border, and asked for €7 billion over seven years from the next EU budget. Borrowed money, he said, was justified only for defence and security; Latvian Public Media noted that he did not show how the sum was reached.

### Social policy

On family law he has not followed most of his group. Latvian Public Media reported that he was the only United List deputy to tell a Latvian Television programme that he supported same-sex marriage in principle. He did not vote in either reading of the bill to denounce the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention, though ten of the thirteen United List deputies voted for withdrawal. The Saeima passed withdrawal on 30 October 2025 by 56 votes to 32, with the National Alliance, For Stability!, Latvia First and the Union of Greens and Farmers among those for the first reading, and New Unity and the Progressives later open to a [Constitutional Court](/organizations/constitutional-court) challenge. In the final debate he argued for a referendum instead. In August 2026 he said the party had opposed ratification but "never wrote anywhere that we need to denounce it or withdraw now," and asked, "Why do we need all this international fuss?"

The coalition text he signed nevertheless ruled out any retreat from standards already reached on human rights, violence, gender equality and the legal protection of families, and called families and children a "fundamental value of the state." Before taking office he said work with the Progressives was possible only if divisive issues were set aside, and only for months rather than four years.

## Personal life

### Family

Kulbergs is married. The declaration he filed as a candidate in the 2026 Saeima election gives his marital status as married. His wife is Anna Kulberga. In November 2023, while he was a deputy, *Santa* reported that they had become parents of a third child, a son, Kārlis Artūrs. The Cabinet biography lists his languages as Latvian at native level, English at C2 and Russian at C1.

*Santa* described a family custom of taking a newborn home in an unusual car rather than an ordinary one. It wrote that Kulbergs himself had been brought home in a rare Rolls-Royce given by [Joseph Stalin](/people/joseph-stalin) to Vyacheslav Molotov, and that Kārlis Artūrs went home in a 1999 rally car.

### Motorsport and the 2022 crash

Kulbergs has competed as an amateur in rallying in Latvia, usually in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. On 25 October 2009 the Latvian Automobile Federation said he set the fastest time, and won the 4WD+ class, at the closing Auto Stils supersprint in Ropaži Municipality, driving a Lancer Evo VI. On 14 July 2013 he and co-driver Kristaps Bērziņš won the Aizpute minirally outright in a Lancer Evo, by 31 seconds.

Declarations have listed a large private fleet. For 2025 he reported 11 vehicles, as in earlier years, including a 1939 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS, a 1973 Dodge Challenger, a 1985 Audi 90, a 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, a 2021 BMW i3S, a Ducati, a quad bike, a motorboat and three trailers. The October 2026 candidate filing again listed 11.

That Evolution was the car he was driving on 1 May 2022, when it collided head-on with a Volvo V70. Police said the crash was at about 18:20 in Ropaži Municipality, on the road between the Jugla paper-mill settlement and Upesciems, near [the bridge](/organizations/the-bridge) over the Mazā Jugla. A blue Volvo and a red Mitsubishi met, and six people were hurt; later reports said only Kulbergs was taken to intensive care.

In November 2022 he wrote that the authorities had found the Volvo driver at fault for entering the oncoming lane. He cited an assessment putting the Volvo at about 90–100 km/h at impact and his car at no more than 40–45 km/h, and said the other driver may have fallen asleep. He also wrote that he spent 36 days in hospital, had six operations, used a wheelchair for five months and then used crutches.

While using a wheelchair he spoke about accessibility in Riga. In July 2022, for *900 sekundes*, he showed a high kerb on Valmieras iela, underpasses on Satekles iela and 13. janvāra iela, and what he called especially poor conditions in Pārdaugava, including Āgenskalns. He said usable streets would also help older people and parents with prams, and that he expected to leave the chair in September while thousands of residents would not. In December 2022, as a deputy, he posted a TikTok from the Saeima in a wheelchair, writing that cobblestones between the parliament's buildings, and stairs at the cloakroom and canteen, made the building unusable for wheelchair users.

On 1 November 2026, while serving as prime minister, Kulbergs and co-driver Andis Veinbergs won the Historic Vehicles category at Rallysprint Latvija, the closing round of the Latvian rally season, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI over seven special stages at the Biķernieki racetrack. He told dpa that racing was in his blood and that he had not wanted to give up the hobby while in office, that the security authorities had agreed to his participation on condition he drove safely and acted responsibly, and that he was probably the first head of government to take part in a rally.

## Reception and criticism

### Public image

Commentators described Kulbergs’s plain, sharp style as a main reason United List support rose after he became prime minister. SKDS director Arnis Kaktiņš said the move from 6.8% in [the centre](/organizations/the-centre)’s April–May 2026 survey to 9.8% in June was unsurprising and could have been larger, and that the list had drawn New Unity voters. Lelde Metla-Rozentāle of Riga Stradiņš University linked the gain to a leader she called charismatic but ordinary, set against the cabinet of Evika Siliņa. The Baltic News Network wrote that the same jump made a “Kulbergs effect” visible, crediting sharp language, and asked whether it would fade as the earlier effect around Krišjānis Kariņš had. In a September SKDS survey, 36.3% called him suitable for the premiership, against 18.4% for Ainārs Šlesers; 16.6% called him unsuitable.

After the 3 October vote, University of Latvia professor Jānis Ikstens called the result Kulbergs’s “star hour”: the leap had come only once he headed the government, and Ikstens credited communication rather than work done. There was, he said, no clear settlement for airBaltic and none of the debureaucratisation or spending cuts discussed when the cabinet was formed — a large advance of trust. Metla-Rozentāle said a short term would no longer excuse a lack of results.

In the May Saeima debate, Andris Šuvajevs of The Progressives said most of 52 promises could not be met in four months, and objected to leaving agriculture with the Union of Greens and Farmers after a State Audit Office report on Latvijas valsts meži. Linda Liepiņa of Latvia First spoke of “naive optimism” and said New Unity would hide behind Kulbergs. After the election Šlesers offered a coalition with the United List and the National Alliance. Šuvajevs said the Progressives would talk only if invited, and warned against reopening the Istanbul Convention, partnership rules and the statutory 5% defence-spending floor.

Former defence minister Andris Sprūds called disinformation the claim that counter-drone munitions had been “forgotten”; TVNET reported that the dispute concerned Origin Robotics interceptors whose warheads were still being arranged. Latvian Radio reported Estonian coverage casting Latvia as the main cause of Rail Baltica delay, while RB Rail chair Matīss Paegle said the company did not know Kulbergs’s unpublished cost-cutting idea. In August he called Bank of Latvia guidance on biodiversity risks in farm credit “totāli suņa murgi” — colloquial Latvian for utter nonsense; the bank said the voluntary methodology dictated neither farming practice nor whom to lend to.

### Business ties and conflicts of interest

Re:Baltica’s Re:Check unit judged false his claim that one NGO memorandum-council sitting cost about €18,000 merely for attendance: the Civic Alliance’s €200,000-a-year contract also covered a secretariat, working groups and a forum, and his office had divided that sum by the planned sittings. He had pointed to the Auto Association and the Employers’ Confederation, where he sat unpaid, as bodies that did not bill the state, but the confederation had a €730,000 project, including €110,000 from the budget, for legislative work. Latvian Radio reported that, while he still led the Auto Association, it ran a project for which the European Union granted nearly half a million euros, without a single public account of the results. His 2025 declaration listed €90,227 in income, chiefly a Saeima salary of €78,582, eleven vehicles and a seat on the Auto Association board. The register recorded his departure only on 27 June 2026, a month after the government was confirmed; his freelance legal adviser Krišs Lipšāns remained on a board representing manufacturers, importers, dealers and service firms. Those reports did not cite a ruling by the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau that the overlap had broken conflict-of-interest law. In August the bureau said it was assessing whether an official Friday visit to Kurzeme, which overlapped a campaign photograph of candidates on a combine harvester, had used administrative resources; Kulbergs said the visit was governmental and that state money had not paid for it.

## Dated facts

_No published facts on this page yet._

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/andris-kulbergs