Ainārs Šlesers (born 22 January 1970) is a Latvian business
oligarch and politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia, as well as
Deputy Mayor
The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments.
Duties and functions
Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...
of Riga. Currently he is a member of the
Latvian Parliament and head of political party
Latvia First
Latvia First (, LPV) is a right-wing populist political party in Latvia.
It was founded in August 2021 by businessman and former member of parliament, former Minister of Transport, former vice-mayor of Riga, Ainārs Šlesers. The party board ch ...
. He is noted for his similarity to US President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
.
His family business is closely related to the real estate and logistics sectors in Latvia. Riga Waterfront is a 3bn EUR project launched together with founder of
Emaar Properties
Emaar Properties (or simply Emaar) is an Emirati real estate development company located in the United Arab Emirates. The two largest shareholders are Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the UAE's sovereign wealth fund Investment Corpor ...
,
Mohammed Alabbar, while
Riga Port Group
Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
is the largest port company in Latvia, having the most modern coal and fertilizer terminals in Northern Europe, as well as offering stevedoring, container and railway services in the Baltics.
Business career
Šlesers started his business in Norway, becoming president of the Latvian Information and Commerce Center in Norway in 1992. Through joint ventures together with
Frank Varner
Frank Varner (14 July 1937 – 26 June 2001) was a Norwegian businessman. He established the holding company Varner-Gruppen, which developed into the largest operator in the textile retailing trade in Norway.
Biography
He was born in Oslo
...
and
Stein Erik Hagen
Stein Erik Hagen (born 22 July 1956) is a Norwegian businessman. He is chairman of Orkla, where he is a major shareholder, and holds large stakes in Steen & Strøm, Jernia and Komplett through his family company Canica. According to ''Forbe ...
, he opened numerous shopping centres as well as real estate and commercial properties in Latvia. During 1994–1998 he was director general at Norwegian retail chain "Varner Baltija" and Director General of "Varner Hakon Invest", both ventures of
Varner-Gruppen. He also was Chairman of the Board and President of JSC Supermarket "Centrs" (1995–1998) and Director General of Rimi Baltija, Ltd (1996–1997).
Through his joint ventures, he has opened and developed Rimi Baltic, Narvesen, Cubus, Bik Bok, Dressmann store chains; major shopping malls in Riga – Galerija Centrs, Mols, Dole, Alfa, Minsk, Origo and Olympia; hotels Radisson Blu Ridzene and Radisson Blu Latvija, as well as large real estate developments – Saules Akmens and Saliena.
Šlesers family are developers of Riga Waterfront, the 3 bn EUR project is the largest real estate project in Northern Europe and will house more than 30,000 people. The development will include 8,000 apartments, numerous hotels and offices, retail, public spaces and the new Ropax Terminal for ferries and passengers. The project was originally developed by Dutch architect
Rem Koolhaas
Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of ...
, but was completely redone with the involvement of Emaar in the project. The new Ropax Terminal was design by
Zaha Hadid Architects
Zaha Hadid Architects is a British architecture and design firm founded by Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), with its main office situated in Clerkenwell, London. After the death of " starchitect" Hadid, Patrik Schumacher became head of the firm. At ...
, and is expected to complete the connection between rail, plane and sea with the completion of
Rail Baltica
Rail Baltica is an under-construction rail infrastructure project that is intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve ra ...
by 2030.
Šlesers family also own and manage Riga Port Group with former Prime Minister
Andris Šķēle
Andris Šķēle (born 16 January 1958) is a Latvian former politician and business oligarch. He served two terms as Prime Minister of Latvia from 1995 to 1997, and again from 1999 to 2000.
Early life
Šķēle graduated from the Latvian Agri ...
. Riga Port Group is the leading port company in Latvia, having the largest coal and fertilizer terminals in the Baltics. The logistics group also includes a stevedoring, container and a private railway company.
Political career
He was the leader of the LPP/LC and a Parliament Deputy of the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Saeima. He was also the Minister of Economics in the cabinet of
Vilis Krištopans
Vilis Krištopans (born 13 June 1954) is a Latvian politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 26 November 1998 to 15 July 1999.
As a prime minister he was a member of the Latvian Way political party. He then left politics and, in ...
(1998–1999), Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet of
Einars Repše and
Indulis Emsis
Indulis Emsis (born 2 January 1952) is a Latvian biologist and politician. He was Prime Minister of Latvia for ten months in 2004, the first Green politician to lead a country in the history of the world. He was Speaker of the Saeima, the Latvia ...
(2002-2004), Minister of Transport in the cabinet of Indulis Emsis,
Aigars Kalvītis
Aigars Kalvītis (born 27 June 1966) is a Latvian businessman and a former politician who was the Prime Minister of Latvia from 2004 to 2007. Currently he is the president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation and the Chairman of the Board of Latvia ...
and
Ivars Godmanis (2004-2009) and Deputy Mayor of Riga in 2009–2010.
Minister of Transport
Šlesers was Minister of Transport and Communications from 2004 to 2009, while also serving as Deputy Prime Minister in Indulis Emsis Government. During these years, he is credited for developing the
Riga International Airport
RIX Riga Airport (; ) is the international airport of Riga, the capital of Latvia, and the largest airport in the Baltic states with direct flights to 107 destinations as of September 2024. It serves as a hub for airBaltic, SmartLynx Airlines a ...
into a regional hub, increasing the number of passengers tenfold. The crucial step in the development of the airport was the agreement between Šlesers and
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
CEO
Michael O'Leary about entering the Riga Airport in 2005. At the same time, the Latvian government-owned airline
airBaltic
airBaltic, legally incorporated as AS Air Baltic Corporation, is the flag carrier of Latvia. Its head office are located on the grounds of Riga International Airport in Mārupe municipality near Riga. Its main airline hub, hub is Riga, and it o ...
has steadily become the largest airline in the Baltics. Due to its fast-paced growth, the Riga Airport was included in the EU railway development project,
Rail Baltica
Rail Baltica is an under-construction rail infrastructure project that is intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve ra ...
. With total investments exceeding 5,8 billion Euros, the project will offer convenient connections to the Baltic Capitals and to Western Europe.
Deputy Riga Mayor
Šlesers took part in the Riga City Council elections in 2009 and received a majority of votes together with the Harmony Party and their leader
Nils Ušakovs
Nils Ušakovs (; born 8 June 1976) is a Latvian politician, former mayor of Riga and former journalist. He was the board chairman of the left-wing party alliance Harmony Centre (2005–2014) and afterwards board chairman of the Social Democrati ...
. Ušakovs became Mayor, while Šlesers became Deputy Mayor. Šlesers left office in 2010 after being elected in the parliament.
Latvia First
In July 2021, Šlesers announced his return to politics and that he would be founding a new political party. The "
Latvia First
Latvia First (, LPV) is a right-wing populist political party in Latvia.
It was founded in August 2021 by businessman and former member of parliament, former Minister of Transport, former vice-mayor of Riga, Ainārs Šlesers. The party board ch ...
" party was formally founded on 14 August. In the October 2022 election, Šlesers and his party received 9 out of 100 seats in the parliament, and Slesers was ranked the election's second most popular politician in the election according to voters' personal votes.
In the parliament he is Chairman of the friendship groups between Latvia-China, as well as Latvia-United Arab Emirates.
Currently he is the frontrunner for the Riga Mayoral elections taking places in summer 2025. If he wins, he has promised a more business led approach for the city, with a focus on attracting foreign investments, tourism and international partnerships. He is a prominent Donald Trump supporter and is very vocal about further developing closer pragmatic relationships with the US, China and India based on trade and foreign investments.
Personal life
He is married to
Inese Šlesere, former politician, with whom he has five children, including
Ričards Šlesers.
References
External links
Members of the Saeima since 1993
{{DEFAULTSORT:Šlesers, Ainar
1970 births
Living people
Politicians from Riga
Businesspeople from Riga
New Party (Latvia) politicians
Latvia's First Party politicians
Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way politicians
Latvia First politicians
Ministers of economics of Latvia
Transport ministers of Latvia
Deputies of the 7th Saeima
Deputies of the 8th Saeima
Deputies of the 9th Saeima
Deputies of the 10th Saeima
Deputies of the 14th Saeima
Spouses of politicians
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 3rd class