On 7 March, Foreign Investors’ Council in Latvia (FICIL) held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the new Executive Board was elected. There are three newcomers to the FICIL Board in 2023 – Ilze Zoltnere, Head of Corporate Department for Luminor Bank, Juris Antužs, CEO and country manager at Enefit Green, Māris Vainovskis, Senior Partner at Eversheds Sutherland Bitāns. Iain Kennedy, CEO of BALTA Insurance Company was re-elected to the Board for another term.

During the AGM, Chair of the FICIL Board, Zlata Elksniņa – Zaščirisnka highlighted accomplishments over the last year emphasizing FICIL’s change of strategy to re-focus on key areas and subsequent reduction in the no. of work groups. Ms. Elksniņa – Zaščirisnka also presented FICIL’s Financial Report and planned Budget for next year. Chairperson of the Board also gave the floor to present work group leaders to highlight the current topics of discussion and priorities.

The second half of meeting was joined by the State Secretary at the newly formed Ministry of Climate and Energy of the Republic of Latvia, Līga Kurevska. Currently, in light of the ongoing geopolitical situation, the new ministry sees the need to foster greater sustainability and security of supply. Last year has had immense effect on reducing expenditure of gas while increasing renewable energy. Ms. Kurevska emphasised that measures to achieve green goals have to be balanced in line with economic competitiveness. State Secretary also presented current data in  key areas that will play the largest role in reducing emissions. Members were interested in hearing more about ministries priorities for 2023 and asked whether the new ministry plans to introduce the carrot-and-stick method when it comes businesses green transition.

Four Board members will continue their work as part of the FICIL Executive Board – Zlata Elksniņa-Zaščirinska, Country Managing Partner PwC Latvija, Reinhold Schneider, Chairman of the Board Schwenk Latvija, Valts Kārkliņš, Large Business Customer Director at BITE Latvia and Līga Abramoviča, CFO at Orkla Latvija.

FICIL Executive Board is elected for a two-year term and its main responsibility is to develop and strategically guide the work of FICIL. The first Executive Board meeting will be held at the end of March where the Board members will elect the Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons and start the preparations for the annual High Council meeting. The 27th FICIL High Council will be held in September.

Source: www.ficil.lv