On 5 November the government approved the transfer of Andis Purs, Director of the Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture (ZM), to the post of Director General of the State Forest Service (VMD) with effect from 11 November 2024.
Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze explains the choice as follows:
“We must ensure that the functions and tasks of the State Forest Service are carried out to a high standard, and that means appointing a highly qualified manager as Director General. A manager with work experience in public administration as well as professional experience in resolving forestry matters and setting the sector's strategic objectives, in drafting planning documents and implementing decisions, in process management, and with strong people-management skills. Having assessed the professional qualifications required of a candidate for the post of Director General of the State Forest Service, we are nominating Andis Purs, Director of the Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, for this post.”
Andis Purs has been Director of the Forest Department at the Ministry of Agriculture since 8 January 2024. Before that he worked at the VMD for eight years, from 4 January 2016 to 7 January 2024. For the first six months A. Purs was quality manager of the VMD Control and Supervision Division, and for the remaining years he headed the Forest and Environmental Protection Division of the VMD Forest Resource Management Department. From July 2002 to March 2014, meanwhile, A. Purs held several positions at the state-owned company Latvijas valsts meži (LVM), including deputy director and executive director. A. Purs also has experience of working in private-sector companies – he spent six years as a board member of SIA „ForRest”. A. Purs holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences degree in forest science from the Latvia University of Agriculture (now the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies).
The outgoing VMD Director General, Arvīds Ozols, is leaving the post on 8 November 2024 on reaching retirement age.
More information about the Cabinet of Ministers order can be found on the Cabinet website – “On the transfer of Andis Purs”. The official publication is in the journal “Latvijas Vēstnesis”.