Viesturs Koziols (born 24 August 1963, in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) is a Latvian real estate developer, media and sports entrepreneur, photographer, patron of arts, political and public figure.

Career

After graduating from Faculty of Geography at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

in 1986, Viesturs Koziols started off as a commercial manager of newspaper

Atmoda ''Atmoda'' ('Awakening' in Latvian) was a weekly newspaper in Latvian SSR and Latvia issued from December 1988 to April 1992. It was published by the Popular Front of Latvia (PFL) and was the first independent, opposition paper in the Latvian ...

. The paper had a strong connection with the ongoing

Latvian independence movement The modern Latvian independence movement was the resistance movement to foreign occupation of the Republic of Latvia during Soviet and Nazi German occupation (1940–1991). First year (1940–1941) of occupation The effects of the Molotov–Ribbe ...

; Viesturs Koziols actively joined it. He was among the organizers of the large scale demonstration Baltic Way and joined the

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas fronte) was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the ...

. Viesturs Koziols was adviser to both the first and second

Prime Ministers of Latvia A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

Ivars Godmanis Ivars Godmanis (born 27 November 1951) is a Latvian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Latvia from 1990 to 1993 and again from 2007 to 2009. He was the first Prime Minister of Latvia after the country restored its independence from t ...

and

Valdis Birkavs Valdis Birkavs (born July 28, 1942) is a Latvian politician. He was born in Riga. Birkavs attended the University of Latvia, where he studied philosophy, sociology, law, psychology and mathematical logic. He was first elected to the Latvian pa ...

, in the early 1990s. He was also adviser to the Minister of Economics Juris Lujāns. During 1995–1997 he was project manager at Norwegian retail chain "Varner Baltija" and manager of real estate administration at "Varner Hakon Invest", both ventures of

Varner-Gruppen Varner-Gruppen AS is a textile firm in Norway with approximately 500 stores around the country, includinBik BokCarlings real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parcels ...

, retail development and

city planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

. Viesturs Koziols has participated in as an

investor An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future Return on capital, return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some specie ...

, developer and consultant in development of

Rimi Baltic Rimi may refer to: * Rimi, Nepal, a village development committee * Rimi, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Katsina State * Rimi (Norway), a Norwegian grocery store chain * Rimi Baltic, a Baltic retail chain * Rimi, another name for aurochs, an ...

Narvesen Narvesen is a Norwegian chain of newsagents / convenience stores which, with its 370 outlets nationwide, is one of Norway's largest retailers. The company has since 2000 been part of the Reitan Group (''Reitangruppen''). Narvesens Kioskkompagni ( ...

, Cubus, Bik Bok,

Dressmann Dressmann store in Umeå, Sweden. Dressmann is a chain of men's clothing stores owned by Varner-Gruppen. It was founded in Norway by Frank Varner, who opened the first store in Oslo in 1967. In addition to Norway, Dressmann stores can now be fou ...

store chains; major shopping malls in Riga – Centrs, Mols, Dole, Alfa, Minsk, Origo, Olympia; hotels Radisson Blu Ridzene Hotel, Radisson Blu Hotel Latvija and Hotel Riga and large real estate developments – Saules akmens, Saliena. From 2001 to 2004 Koziols was elected Chairman of the Council in

joint stock company A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...

Latvijas Krājbanka Latvijas Krājbanka (,) is a Latvian bank listed on the Riga OMX exchange. The bank dates back to 1924 when it was founded as the Latvian Postal Savings Bank. Operations of the savings bank continued in various forms during the Soviet period, ...

– the bank with most branches in Latvia. Viesturs Koziols is founder and patron of non-governmental youth organization "Avantis". Through this organization Koziols supported talented Latvian musicians, cinematographers and athletes. Producer and cameraman for "Avantis" released award winning documentary "Atrasts Amerikā" ("Found in USA"). In 2006 his company "Žurnāls" Ltd. began publishing a weekly magazine called "Republika.lv". Viesturs Koziols was among staff photographers. In 2007, together with photographer Ilmārs Znotiņš, he opened the photography studio "Imagine" – one of the most professional photo studios in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

and organized a major documentary photography event "One Day in Latvia 2007". In 2008 Viesturs Koziols became Chairman of the Board of

Kontinental Hockey League The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...

(KHL) ice hockey club

Dinamo Riga Dinamo Riga ( lv, Rīgas Dinamo) is a professional ice hockey team based in Riga, Latvia. It is a member of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. The club is affiliated with HK Zemgale/LLU. The club was re-founded on 7 April 2008 as a successor of ...

. In 2009 he became freelance adviser in fields of youth work to Ministry of the Interior affairs Linda Mūrniece. Together with his business partner from Norway Tormod Stene-Johansen in 2012 established holding structure Latvian Development Fund (LDF). October 2016 he was elected in Board of Latvian Hockey Federation and appointed as the Vice-President and General Secretary of the

Latvian Ice hockey federation The Latvian Ice Hockey Federation ( lv, Latvijas Hokeja federācija), commonly abbreviated as LHF is the Sport governing body, governing body that oversees ice hockey in Latvia, including the Latvian Hockey Higher League, the Latvia women's nation ...

. September 2021 Viesturs Koziols during IIHF ( International Ice Hockey Federation )semi-annual congress was elected as a Council member. Council appointed Mr. Koziols as a Chairman of IIHF Facilities Committee. December 2021 left position of General Secretary of Latvian Hockey Federation.

Adventurer

In 1999, together with Vilis Dambiņš and Gunārs Dukšte, Viesturs Koziols reached the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

in a hot air balloon. Together with his daughter Liva Koziola he climbed

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...

in 2000. In 2013 have climbed Himalayas mountains in Bhutan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koziols, Viesturs 1963 births Living people Businesspeople from Riga University of Latvia alumni