Ainārs Šlesers

Ainārs Šlesers (born 22 January 1970, Riga) is a Latvian businessman and former politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia, as well as Deputy Mayor of Riga.

Ainārs Šlesers
Minister for Transport of Latvia
In office
7 November 2006 – 12 March 2009
Prime MinisterAigars Kalvītis
Ivars Godmanis
Preceded byKrišjānis Peters
Succeeded byKaspars Gerhards
In office
9 March 2004 – 17 March 2006
Prime MinisterIndulis Emsis
Aigars Kalvītis
Preceded byRoberts Zīle
Succeeded byKrišjānis Peters
Minister for the Economy of Latvia
In office
26 November 1998 – 10 May 1999
Prime MinisterVilis Krištopans
Preceded byLaimonis Strujevičs
Succeeded byIngrīda Ūdre
Personal details
Born (1970-01-22) 22 January 1970
Riga, Latvian SSR
Political partyNew Party (1998–2002)
Latvia's First Party (2002–2007)
Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (2007–2011)
Spouse(s)Inese Šlesere

Early Life and Business

Šlesers started his business in Norway, becoming President of the Latvian Information and Commerce Center in Norway in 1992. Through joint ventures together with Frank Varner and Stein Erik Hagen, he opened numerous shopping centres as well as real estate and commercial properties in Latvia. During 1994–1998 he was Director General at Norwegian retail chain "Varner Baltija" and Director General of "Varner Hakon Invest", both ventures of Varner-Gruppen. He also was Chairman of the Board and President of JSC Supermarket "Centrs" (1995–1998) and Director General of Rimi Baltija, Ltd (1996–1997).

Šlesers has been credited for bringing among the first foreign investors to Latvia. Through his joint ventures, he has opened and developed Rimi Baltic, Narvesen, Cubus, Bik Bok, Dressmann store chains; major shopping malls in Riga – Galerija Centrs, Mols, Dole, Alfa, Minsk, Origo and Olympia; hotels Radisson Blu Ridzene and Radisson Blu Latvija, as well as large real estate developments – Saules Akmens and Saliena.

Political career

He was the leader of the LPP/LC and a Parliament Deputy of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Saeima. He was also the Minister of Economics in the cabinet of Vilis Krištopans (1998–1999), Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet of Einars Repše and Indulis Emsis (2002-2004), Minister of Transport in the cabinet of Indulis Emsis, Aigars Kalvītis and Ivars Godmanis (2004-2009) and Deputy Mayor of Riga in 2009–2010.

Minister of Transport

Šlesers was Minister of Transport and Communications from 2004–2009, while also serving as Deputy Prime Minister in Indulis Emsis Government. During these years, he is credited for developing the Riga International Airport into a regional hub, increasing the number of passengers tenfold. The crucial step in the development of the airport was the agreement between Šlesers and Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary about entering the Riga Airport in 2005. At the same time, the Latvian government-owned airline airBaltic has steadily become the largest airline in the Baltics. Due to its fast-paced growth, the Riga Airport was included in the EU railway development project, Rail Baltica. With total investments exceeding 5,8 billion Euros, the project will offer convenient connections to the Baltic Capitals and to Western Europe.

Deputy Riga Mayor

Šlesers took part in the Riga City Council elections in 2009 and received a majority of votes together with the Harmony Party and their leader Nils Ušakovs. Ušakovs became Mayor, while Šlesers became Deputy Mayor.[1] Since Šlesers left office in 2010, his political party and Ušakovs have been re-elected twice with majority of votes and still run the Riga City Council to this day.

Return to Business

Currently, Šlesers is owner and Chairman of Multi Capital Holdings who manage the Riga Commercial Port group (RTO). This is a joint venture together with former Prime Minister Andris Šķēle. RTO is the leading port company in Latvia, having the largest coal and fertilizer terminals in the Baltics. The fertilizer terminal is a joint venture together with Uralchem, one of the world's largest fertilizer companies, while the coal terminal is a joint venture together with one of Russia's leading coal exporters, SDS-Mir Trade. At the same time, Šlesers is owner and Supervisory Board member of EuroRailTrans, which is a joint venture together with the Russian Railways.

Šlesers is currently working on the development of Riga Port City, which was originally developed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Riga Port City is currently the largest planned real-estate waterfront project in Northern Europe.

Personal life

He is married to Inese Šlesere, former politician, with whom he has four sons and a daughter.

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References
  1. Petrova, Alla (July 2, 2009). "Nils Usakovs elected as Riga mayor". The Baltic Course. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
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