Mārtiņš Kazāks, the president of the Latvian Bank, expressed his views in an interview with LETA about the potential benefits of listing shares of state-owned companies on the stock exchange. He noted that recent months have seen some preliminary steps and discussions toward this goal. Kazāks is hopeful that the next Saeima (Parliament) will effectively implement this initiative, suggesting that the opportunity for public investment in domestic enterprises could finally be realized.

Kazāks emphasized that the benefits of such a move would be twofold; it would not only improve the quality of governance for these state enterprises but also provide opportunities for Latvian residents to invest locally. He described the current financial investment landscape in Latvia as complicated and challenging, and posited that allowing a partial stock market listing could alleviate some of these difficulties. This, he argues, would also enable the government to finance part of its ongoing expenditures without resorting to borrowing.

Moreover, he clarified that the proposal does not entail fully privatizing these companies but rather offering minority stakes to the public, thus maintaining state influence and oversight. Kazāks believes that granting such minority rights is a standard practice and would not compromise the government's role. This initiative, therefore, could be a significant step in improving both public investment opportunities and governance in Latvia.