Aivars Lembergs

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Aivars Lembergs (born September 26, 1953) is a Latvian politician and businessman, who has been the mayor of Ventspils since 1988.

Lembergs was born in Jēkabpils, Latvia. He studied economics in Latvia State University (now know as the University of Latvia), graduating in 1977. He then worked in various positions in the Communist party of Latvia, becoming mayor of Venstpils in 1988. He stayed in this position after Latvia became independent and has been re-elected five times. Lembergs is the leader of the local political party, Latvijai un Venstpilij ("For Latvia and Ventspils") which he founded in 1994. Latvijai un Ventspilij has completely dominated the city politics since it was founded, winning at least 73% of vote in each of last three elections (1997, 2001 and 2005). Such dominance is unique in Latvian municipal politics.

Under Lembergs as mayor, Venstpils has become the wealthiest city in Latvia. This is mainly due to Ventspils' port facilities, which are used for exporting Russian natural resources (e.g. oil and minerals). It is widely speculated that Lembergs is a major shareholder in many port-related companies (e.g., Venstpils Nafta (Ventspils Oil), the company that handles oil transit through the Venstpils port). The companies are tehnically owned by Yelverton Investment, a Dutch offshore company which does not reveal its owners. The suspicion is that Lembergs, together with other local businessmen, is behind Yelverton Investment.

Lembergs is among the wealthiest people in Latvia. The true extent of his wealth is unknown to public, because the ownership information of Venstpils companies is not publicly known. The estimates of his wealth by Latvian media range from 85 million to 230 millions euros. But, even his publicly known wealth is quite large. According to his income declaration, Lembergs' 2005 income was 8.6 million lats (€12.3million).

The details of how Lembergs accumulated his wealth are largely unknown. His past business partner, Ainars Gulbis, has accused Lembergs of obtaining a large share in their Kalija Parks company by threats to Gulbis and Kalija Parks.

Lembergs exercises a significant influence over national politics in Latvia. He has been consulted by a prospective prime minister during negotiations over a new coalition government. The Ventspils Nafta company owns two of the three main Latvian-language national newspapers. Lembergs' party Latvijai and Venstpilij has entered into an alliance with the Union of Greens and Farmers and the Union of Greens and Farmers named Lembergs as its most likely candidate for the Prime Minister of Latvia after the 2006 parliamentary election.