AmCham Elects Board and New President

On March 18th, the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia held its 17th Annual General Meeting which included election of the Board of Directors. The competition was tough as we had six strong candidates standing for four vacant positions.

Our President, Jerry Wirth, stepped down after six years of service on the Board due to term limits, leaving behind a legacy of Chamber transformation and success. Our sincere thanks go out to Jerry for his leadership and dedicated service to the Chamber over the years. We wish all the best to Jerry for the future and hope to see him at our events soon!

We would like to congratulate Daiga Auzina-Melalksne of NASDAQ OMX Riga on her election to the Board, and Aleksis Karlsons, Alexander Sasha Kelberg and Ivars Slokenbergs on their re-election.

The Board of the American Chamber of Commerce for 2010-2011 consists of:

• Daiga Auzina-Melalksne, CEO of NASDAQ OMX Riga
• Romans Baumanis, Regional Advisor to Nord-Stream in the Baltic States and Individual member
• Matthew Hadley, Partner of Advisory services, KPMG Baltics
• Ilze Jurkane, Individual member
• Aleksis Karlsons, CEO of Hotel Bergs and A&E Consulting
• Alexander Sasha Kelberg, CEO of GroGlass and NCH Investment Manager 
• Matiss Kukainis, Partner of Spigulis & Kukainis Law Office
• Ivars Slokenbergs, Associate of Klavins & Slaidins
• Liga Bertulsone, Executive Director

Following Annual General Meeting the Board elected new officers. Ivars Slokenbergs was elected as Chairman of the Board and President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia at the Board meeting on March 23, 2010. Ilze Jurkane, Romans Baumanis, Matt Hadley, Aleksis Karlsons and Matiss Kukainis were elected as Vice Presidents for one year.

Mr. Slokenbergs has served as a Board member since 2008 and in the last year he served as Vice President for Events planning. He also led the working group that drafted the Statement on Good Corporate Citizenship of the Chamber.

Ivars is a lawyer at Klavins & Slaidins LAWIN, one of Latvia’s leading law firms, representing foreign investors and leading Latvian companies in mergers & acquisitions as well as other corporate transactions.

According to Ivars, his goal as the new President is to “maintain the Chamber as an indispensable forum where the business community of Latvia can exchange ideas, connect with decision-makers, encourage transparency and promote a positive business and investment climate in Latvia.”