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 Agriculture Academy. He began to work in the Government in 1990 when he became the first secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1993 Šķēle briefly became the acting Minister of Agriculture. In 1994, he was assigned by then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

to create Latvia's

Privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

Agency, while becoming the acting General Director of it. During this time, he was not in active politics and was able to pursue the leadership role of several key Latvian businesses. He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Latvian Shipping Company, as well as Supervisory Board member in Unibanka. He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Avelat Group, which was one of the largest manufacturing and retailing groups in Latvia. In the following years, Šķēle took part in a management buyout of the Avelat group and became the single owner of it. However, he was forced to sell it later to avoid a

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

while in active politics.

Prime minister

In 1995, after the parliamentary elections of 6th Saeima, political parties were incapable of creating a coalition government for a while, thus Šķēle was presented as an independent candidate for the position of Prime Minister. The cabinet was approved on 21 September 1995 and worked until 7 August 1997. During Šķēle's leadership, the government focused on a wide-scale privatization program, liberalization of land ownership laws and maintaining a balanced budget. Šķēle was considered among the most popular politicians at the time.

People's Party

In 1998, before the parliamentary elections of 7th Saeima, Andris Šķēle founded the People's Party. It positioned itself as a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

party and was able to win the elections, receiving 24 out of 100 seats in the parliament. However other political parties created a grand coalition and left the People's Party in the opposition. It was a year later when the government of Vilis Krištopans fell and Šķēle was able to form a new government. Šķēle once again became Prime Minister from 16 July 1999 to 5 May 2000. During this time, the government began talks of Latvia joining the EU and

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which was achieved in a mere 4 years time. In 2002, after the 8th Parliament elections, Šķēle retired from politics and formally left all political party roles. However, it was very clear that Šķēle had a significant influence on the political and economic situation of the country as the role of the People's Party grew over the years. Latvia's later Prime Ministers Aigars Kalvitis (2004-2007) and Laimdota Straujuma (2014-2016), and Maris Kucinskis (2016–2019) were members of the People's Party founded by Šķēle.

Business ventures

Šķēle's family company has constantly been diversifying its portfolio of investments in Latvia. They have invested in renewable wind energy company "Vēja parks", as well as

wood processing Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing. The major wo ...

and agriculture. They have also managed and owned Liepājas Autobusu Parks (LAP) that is the leading regional passenger transportation group in Latvia. In 2013, Šķēle formed a joint venture with former politician

Ainārs Šlesers Ainārs Šlesers (born 22 January 1970) is a Latvian business Business oligarch, oligarch and politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Latvia, as well as Deputy Mayor of Riga. Currently he is a member of the Saeima, Latvian Parliament and head ...

. Together they own Multi Capital Holding group that currently manages and own the private company, Riga Port. Riga Port is a leading operator, developer and investor of port assets and rail-related services in Latvia. They operate the largest coal and fertilizer terminals in the Baltics. Šķēle in 2019 was working on the development of Riga Port City, as designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

Personal life

Andris Šķēle has been married twice. His wife Kristiāna Lībane-Šķēle is a well-known

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

, former parliament member and lawyer. At the same time, she is the Honorary Consul of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

in Riga, Latvia. Šķēle has three children and his family for years has been named among the wealthiest families in Latvia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skele, Andris 1958 births Living people People from Smiltene Municipality People's Party (Latvia) politicians Prime ministers of Latvia Ministers of finance of Latvia Deputies of the 7th Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 10th Saeima Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies alumni