Aivars Lembergs

Aivars Lembergs (born September 26, 1953) is a Latvian politician and oligarch, who has been the mayor of Ventspils since 1988, a mandate from which he has been suspended[2] since 2008. In February 2021, Lembergs was found guilty of charges relating to bribery and money-laundering. He received a sentence of five years in prison, confiscation of property, and a €20,000 fine.[3]

Aivars Lembergs
Mayor of Ventspils
In office
1988–2021
Succeeded byJānis Vitoliņš
Personal details
Born (1953-09-26) September 26, 1953
Jēkabpils, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (1975–1990)
For Latvia and Ventspils (since 1994)
Spouse(s)Ināra Lemberga(1975–1990)
Kristīne Lemberga (2015–)
ChildrenAnrijs
Līga
Artūrs
Alma materUniversity of Latvia
OccupationPolitician
Net worth US$270 million (2013)[1]
Websitewww.aivarslembergs.lv

Early life and education

Lembergs was born in Jēkabpils, Latvia. He studied economics in Latvian State University (now known as the University of Latvia), graduating in 1977. He then worked in various positions in the Communist party of Latvia, becoming mayor of Ventspils in 1988.

He stayed in this position after Latvia became independent and has been re-elected five times. Lembergs was the leader of the local political party, For Latvia and Ventspils which he founded in 1994. For Latvia and Ventspils has completely dominated the city politics since it was founded.

Before the 2006 parliamentary election, Lembergs' party For Latvia and Ventspils entered into an alliance with the Union of Greens and Farmers and the Union of Greens and Farmers named Lembergs as its candidate for the Prime Minister of Latvia.

He remains its leading figure and chief financial supporter.[4] He was one of the three "oligarchs" against which Zatlers' Reform Party pledged to act if it achieved office.[5]

Career

Since 2008 he has faced a long-running investigation for bribery, money laundering and abuse of office. He vehemently denies all wrongdoing.[6][7][8][9][10]

On 22 February 2021, Lembergs was sentenced to 5-year imprisonment, a 20,000 EUR fine, and confiscation of property[11] worth tens of millions of euros.[12] He was immediately arrested after that.[11] Lembergs has compared his sentencing to the sentencing of Alexei Navalny.[13]

Controversies

Lembergs also featured in the 2016 Panama papers offshore scandal.[14] On 9 December 2019, the US government blocked his US assets under the Magnitsky Act.[15]

On 10 December 2019, the US State Department declared him, his wife and children ineligible for entry into the US.[16]

On 23 March 2020, Ventspils City Council deputy Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis has turned to the State Police with a request to start a criminal process against Lembergs for his defamatory claims voiced against minority deputy and state official Kristovskis.[17]

References
  1. "The Lembergs still Latvia's wealthiest family in 2013". The Baltic Course. 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  2. Gederts, Gelzis (9 December 2019). "U.S. sanctions Latvian oligarch charged with corruption". Reuters. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. "Lembergs found guilty, sentenced to 5 years". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  4. Goehring, Jeannette (2007). Nations in Transit 2007: Democratization from Central Europe to Eurasia. London: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 404. ISBN 978-0-932088-26-0.
  5. Eglitis, Aaron. "Latvian Parties Agree Budget, Euro as Coalition Talks Begin" Bloomberg News September 19, 2011
  6. E.L. "Time up for tycoons; Latvian elections: the oligarchs' exit" The Economist September 13, 2011
  7. http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=178741&doclang=en European Court of Justice May 25, 2016
  8. Jemberga, Sanita (13 July 2018). "New Panama leak sheds light on the wealth of Latvian oligarch's daughter". Re:Baltica. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  9. "Prosecutor demands 8-year jail sentence for Ventspils bigwig". Latvian Public Broadcasting. LETA. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  10. Hermann, Rudolf (29 April 2020). "Korruption in Lettland". Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  11. The court sentences Lembergs for five years in prison and arrests him in the courtroom (in Latvian) Delfi.lv February 22, 2021
  12. "Lembergs faces confiscation of assets worth tens of millions of euros" The Baltic Times February 22, 2021
  13. "Lembergs compares his sentencing to Navalny's case" The Baltic Times February 22, 2021
  14. "Latvian public figures feature in Panama papers" The Baltic Times April 7, 2016
  15. Mengqi, Sun (9 December 2019). "U.S. Blacklists Foreign Officials, Support Networks for Alleged Corruption". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  16. "Public Designations Due to Significant Corruption of Latvian and Cambodian Officials". state.gov. US Department of State. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  17. "Criminal process launched against Aivars Lembergs for defamation". Baltic News Network. 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
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