Former Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia

Head of the Analytics Department, Lead Analyst at AS GASO and AS Latvijas Gāze, Latvia.

Representative of the Republic of Latvia to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Paris, France — Crisis and Operations Management Center (authorized representative at the global headquarters).

Professional Positions:

20.12.2007 – 12.03.2009 — Minister of Defence of the Republic of Latvia, Cabinet of Ministers.

25.01.2007 – 20.12.2007 — Minister of Health of the Republic of Latvia, Cabinet of Ministers.

07.2001 – 01.2007 — Director General of the Food and Veterinary Service (Pārtikas un veterinārais dienests), Chief State Inspector for Food and Veterinary Affairs.

01.2005 – 12.2005 — Head of the Expert Group on Public Administration Reform in Georgia (Ministry of the Cabinet of Ministers of Georgia), in cooperation with the World Bank and the IMF.

01.2005 – 12.2005 — Head of the Expert Group on Public Administration of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), in cooperation with the World Bank and the IMF.

Education:

07.2006 — Master’s Degree, Latvia University of Agriculture (Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

01.1989 – 07.1995 — Higher Education Diploma in Veterinary Medicine, LLU.

Additional Education:
Courses in agronomy and animal husbandry, agricultural business management, horse care and horse breeding, law, and other fields (Latvia, Germany, USA).

Awards and Honors:

Letter of Appreciation from the President of Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, for professional crisis prevention in the state.

Gold Medal from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), Paris — for the eradication of particularly dangerous animal diseases.

Silver Medal from the Ministry of Agriculture of Latvia — for diligence in eliminating particularly dangerous diseases and for the development of horse breeding in Latvia.

Life Motto:
“Easy life was never promised!”