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Aivars Lembers, Andris Skele and Ainars Slesers.

Slesers was the first to leave shortly before 9 p.m. to walk home, not far from the meeting venue. Slesers admitted that he had participated in a meeting with Lembergs and Skele, who were being awaited by two limos at the building's entrance. "Now it is businessmen establishing associations, and we discussed if we should perhaps provide financial support for [ex-Prime Minister Einars] Repse," Slesers retorted when he was asked to tell what was discussed at the meeting, writes LETA.

Slesers, who is currently not in politics, said it was he who had called the meeting because he wished to discuss the political situation and understand "how long this government will be able to hold on." This interests Slesers as a businessmen because he plans to start a real estate business in the summer. The three agreed at the meeting that the government would most probably fall already in the summer, if not earlier, and that political parties will regroup by then. The association "For Latvia's Development", recently established by Repse and supported by the so-called "new oligarchs" who currently sponsor Unity, will play a key role.

According to Slesers, the three "old oligarchs" would be pleased with such a scenario. Slesers, Lembergs and Skele's interest in politics is that of businessmen, added Slesers. "Repse nailed it down when he said that the state cannot exist without business. I had conflicts with Repse in the past, but one thing is clear – if he decides something, action will follow. So Repse would not be the worst premier in the current situation, when stability, which threatens to become stagnation, needs to be transformed into development," said Slesers.

Lembergs made it clear at the meeting that that he was participating in political talks, and that, thanks to his influence, the Union of Greens and Farmers would return to the government in a few months. The key to changing the government is the so-called "Olsteins' six", or six MPs, lead by Klavs Olsteins, who broke away from Zatlers Reform Party and recently established association "Free Democrats", and are now demanding a minister's portfolio in the government, according to Pietiek.com.

The scenario that the three "old oligarchs" discussed Monday night dealt with a possible split-up of Unity, as a result of which part of Unity's MPs together with the "Olsteins' six" and some of the Zatlers Reform Party members could establish a new bloc in parliament, made up of 17 to 18 MPs altogether, which will lay the foundation for a new government, and it is very likely that Repse will be nominated for prime minister. The anti-government rhetoric, accusing Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) of being unable to encourage economic growth, will grow louder in the coming months, whereas "Olsteins six" will play the part of opposition within the coalition.

The "three oligarchs", whose activities were one of the main reasons why then President Valdis Zatlers issued his decree on dissolution of the 10th Saeima, have seen their influence decline since the 11th Saeima elections. Slesers and Skele have liquidated their political parties, and Lembergs also has less influence now that the Greens/Farmers Union is not part of the government.

European Parliament member Sandra Kalniete (Unity) said, commenting on the oligarchs' meeting to discuss toppling Dombrovskis' government, that all that Slesers, Skele and Lembergs could do now was to boast of their past achievements - which is probably what they were doing at the meeting, Kalinete's aide Martins Spravniks told LETA.

"The past heroic deeds of the three oligarchs have been rightly evaluated by the people, and are still being evaluated by courts in Riga and London. They may be discussing plans to topple the government of Dombrovskis and raise political corpses all they want," said Kalniete, adding, "But they no longer have that which Dombrovskis and his government still have – support from the educated and most active part of Latvian society. Latvian citizens have radically changed Latvian politics in the past few years: the rich no longer dictate the rules. Oligarchs, minigarchs and kleptocrats may be complaining about the splendor of the days long gone, but there is no way back. And the rumors about a schism within Unity have been used for three years to keep the same old broth boiling for those who do not have their own political parties anymore," said Kalniete.