This summer, the ministry allocated an additional 225,000 euros from the government to the organizers of international sporting events. The lion's share of this amount — 147,367 euros, or more than 65% of all funds — went to the Bridge Federation. At the same time, the two championships for which the money was allocated had already concluded before the announcement of the competition. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs demanded explanations from the ministry. **Ministry: there were no special conditions** In a statement released on Saturday, the IZM asserts that the Prime Minister is unjustifiably creating the impression among the public that the funds for the Bridge Federation were allocated without clear criteria, outside of a competition, or as a result of an individual political decision. "The facts can be verified by documents," the ministry states, noting that all requested information regarding the competition, its criteria, and the distribution of funds has already been provided to the State Chancellery. The IZM also emphasizes that the holding of bridge championships in Latvia was not a surprise for the state. On July 4, 2025, the National Sports Council, chaired by then-Prime Minister Evika Silina, reviewed the application from the Bridge Federation and, as interpreted by the ministry, approved the holding of the competitions. However, the IZM acknowledges that at that time, state funding for the federation was not guaranteed. Nevertheless, in 2026, it could apply for co-financing on par with other recognized sports federations. "This is exactly what subsequently happened," the ministry states. **Why the Prime Minister had questions** Earlier, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs demanded that the Ministry of Education and Science immediately present documents regarding the distribution of 225,000 euros and legally justify the allocation of 147,366 euros to the Bridge Federation. The reason is the dates of the competition and the events themselves. The 57th European Bridge Championship among national teams and the 30th RTU Youth European Bridge Championship concluded on July 15. However, the competition for state funding was announced only on July 22 — a week later. According to the Prime Minister, neither the government nor he personally made a separate decision to allocate funds to the Bridge Federation. Therefore, the head of government wants to clarify on what legal basis state funding was provided for events that had already concluded by the time the competition was announced. At the same time, Kulbergs does not yet assert that the allocation of funds to the Bridge Federation was illegal. However, according to him, the existing information raises serious enough questions to warrant an immediate investigation.
