I Want – I Give, I Want – I Take Back: The Saeima Again Studies the Case of the Richest Citizen of Latvia 0 12

"Russian Oligarch"

This term has been applied to the 70-year-old entrepreneur Petr Olegovich Aven in the document alongside "citizen of the Republic of Latvia." However, he is more commonly referred to as an oligarch (Aven has appeared in numerous "Forbes lists" at least until 2022, with a fortune ranging from 4 to 5.5 billion dollars). But who exactly is an oligarch remains unclear. There is no legal definition of an oligarch in national legislation, nor is there a contradiction between being an oligarch and a citizen of the Republic of Latvia simultaneously.

However, the submitters of the document appeal to the fact that Mr. Aven "is included in the sanctions list approved by the European Union. He has actively provided material and financial support to decision-makers in Russia responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine and has benefited from them. He has also supported actions or policies that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine."

Part 1 of Article 24 of the Law on Citizenship of Latvia states: "Citizenship of Latvia shall be revoked from a person if they: Provided substantial financial, propaganda, technological, or other support to states or individuals conducting actions, including genocide, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity of democratic states, sovereignty, and independence or constitutional order, or if the person themselves participated in the implementation of such actions, and in the case of revocation of citizenship of Latvia, this person does not become stateless."

Ten parliamentarians have shown considerable interest in the personality of Petr Aven: Edvins Šnēre, Arturs Butāns, Ilze Indriksone, Uģis Mitrevics, Jurģis Klotiņš, Nauris Puntulis, Jānis Grasbergs, Jānis Dombrava, Jānis Vitenbergs, Edmunds Teirumnieks. What unites all these people is that they are all elected to the Saeima from the National Alliance.

"Has the investigation into possible violations by P. Aven of the Citizenship Law been completed in the two years?" the politicians posed a rhetorical question, "if not, what are the reasons? Why is this investigation taking so long and how much longer is needed to complete it? We remind you that according to the Citizenship Law, the revocation of citizenship in the manner prescribed by paragraph 5 of part 1 of Article 24 cannot be initiated until a response is received from the security institutions. Therefore, we call on the Ministry of the Interior not to delay the verification process."

Challenging the Decision Does Not Suspend

Mr. Kozlovskis, it must be said, accepted the challenge with open arms. How else, when he is one of the headliners of the prime minister's faction "New Unity" – the party is already hanging by a thread due to the budget, and now this Aven. Who wants to be perceived as insufficiently patriotic in such a situation?

Therefore, Kozlovskis responded:

– Information that the relevant person has committed any of the mentioned actions is provided by the security institutions. Challenging and appealing the decision does not suspend its effect.

According to paragraph 3 of the Cabinet of Ministers' regulations from September 24, 2013, No. 975 "Procedure for Loss and Restoration of Latvian Citizenship," the decision to revoke Latvian citizenship is made by the head of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Office or an authorized official."

It turns out that billionaire Aven is at the level of the head of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Office, Maira Roze, who recently ordered the expulsion of 841 Russians from Latvia. As they say, "the barn has burned down, let the hut burn too" – it won't hurt the official. Especially since those with whom the former Russian negotiated the scheme "Latvian citizenship – investments in Latvia" are no longer involved. Except for the former mayor of Riga, who signed an agreement with Aven six years ago for the International Music Festival, now the chairman of the Saeima Commission on State Administration and Local Government.

And also the mayor of Ogre, where Aven planned to hold an exhibition of porcelain from the 1920s-30s, is still in office. By the way, Egils Helmanis is from the same National Alliance. Such is the level of pluralism.

Grandfather Served in the Cheka and Was Repressed

Let’s recall how Petr Aven obtained Latvian citizenship. He appealed to family ties. Indeed, his grandfather, Jan Yakovlevich Aven, was born 130 years ago in the Vecpiebalga parish in a peasant family. But he did not live in the Republic of Latvia and was not a citizen. Only in the Russian Empire, of which Latvia was then a part, and in the USSR.

Aven's grandfather – a figure in the special services and a diplomat. Photo Wikipedia

Jan Aven belonged to the cohort of so-called "old Bolsheviks" – his party career began in 1913. He went to fight in World War I with the 7th Bauska Regiment of Latvian Riflemen, and in 1917 became the chairman of the company’s revolutionary committee. After the October Revolution, he was appointed to guard the Soviet government in the Smolny Palace in Petrograd. Until 1920, he worked as an investigator for the Cheka, traveling on work assignments to his ethnic homeland as part of the Special Department of the 15th Army, which was fighting in Latgale.

In the 1920s-30s, Jan Aven served as deputy head of the Literary Subdepartment of the Communist International, represented the Soviet government in Stockholm, was a theater director, worked at the Agricultural Institute, in Gosplan...

Nevertheless, Stalin's repressions hit Aven early: in 1935 he was arrested and sentenced as a Trotskyist-Zinovievite to 5 years. And already in Kolyma in 1938, the NKVD "troika" sentenced him to death. He was posthumously rehabilitated for the first case in 1967, and for the second in 1989.

"It’s All in Aven’s Interests..."

...so characterized Deputy Šnēre the inaction of the security forces at the Commission meeting on requests: – But is this in the interests of the state? I doubt it. The state has appealed to the European Court to lift sanctions for Aven.

Minister Kozlovskis also spoke:

– Revocation of citizenship is not a political process! I cannot tell you whether the verification has been completed or not.

Three (!) security institutions are working in the state, the minister reminded. Plus the Saeima Commission on National Security. And "perhaps it is correct that the Minister of the Interior cannot insist and revoke citizenship."

In the voting at the commission, the National Alliance found itself in the minority; their request was not supported. But the hot topic of "citizen Aven" is clearly being highlighted before the elections!

Reference

Petr Aven (70) – a Russian billionaire, entrepreneur, and former banker. From 1991 to 1992, he worked in the government of Russia: he was the first deputy minister of foreign affairs in the government of Yegor Gaidar, then the minister of foreign economic relations and representative of Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the Council of the "Big Eight." From 1994 to 2011, he served as president of "Alfa-Bank," then continued to work in the company as chairman of the board. He was a co-owner of the Luxembourg holding Letter One, which combined assets in energy, retail, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals.

He holds Russian and Latvian citizenship and was one of the richest people in Russia and Latvia, having been subjected to EU and UK sanctions since 2022 due to the war in Ukraine.