Vilnis Edvīns Bresis (30 January 1938 in Jelgava – 25 October 2017) was a

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

n politician who was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

from 6 October 1988 to 7 May 1990. During the Soviet period, Bresis worked in various management positions in agriculture and the Communist Party of the Latvian SSR, becoming the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Premier) at the end of the Soviet period. Bresis supported the idea of Latvia as an independent country, voting in favour of the declaration of renewed independence on 4 May 1990. Under his leadership, Latvia started to break up

collective farms Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

and created the first 8,000 privately owned farms. After the first relatively free election in Latvia since the 1930s in March 1990 and subsequent to the declaration of independence, Bresis was replaced as Premier by Ivars Godmanis, one of the leaders of the pro-independence Popular Front of Latvia. He remained a member of the parliament from 1990 to 1995 and was a member of the

Gailis cabinet The Gailis cabinet was the government of Latvia from 19 September 1994 to 21 December 1995. It was led by Prime Minister Māris Gailis. It took office on 19 September 1994, after the resignation of Valdis Birkavs Valdis Birkavs (born July 28 ...

for the centre-left

Political Union of Economists The Political Union of Economists ( lv, Tautsaimnieku politiskā apvienība), abbreviated to TPA, was a centre-left political party in Latvia during the 1990s. It was strongly pro-economic liberalisation. It was founded in February 1994, and was ...

and worked in

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

after that. From 2002 until 2010, Bresis was member of the parliament, elected from the Union of Greens and Farmers. He died on 25 October 2017 at the age of 79.http://m.rus.delfi.lv/latvija/article.php?id=49376021

References

1938 births 2017 deaths People from Jelgava Communist Party of Latvia politicians Political Union of Economists politicians Latvian Farmers' Union politicians Heads of government of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1985–1990 Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia Deputies of the 5th Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 9th Saeima Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies alumni Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour {{Latvia-politician-stub