Gediminas Žiemelis (born April 4, 1977) is a Lithuanian–Turkish businessman. He is currently the chairman of the board at

Avia Solutions Group Avia Solutions Group is a Lithuanian-owned ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) provider and holding company. Established in 2010 in Vilnius, it moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ireland in 2023, and has additional offices around th ...

and former chairman of the board, founder and UBO at Vertas Management AB (former ZIA Valda). Since 2022 Gediminas Žiemelis has been listed as the richest Lithuanian. In 2024 his assets were estimated to be worth about 2.8 billion euros.

Biography

Gediminas Žiemelis was born into poverty in

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

- occupied

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

in 1977. Before his mother's birth, his maternal grandmother was

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

from Lithuania to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, where his mother was born. In 1956, after

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

died, the family returned to Lithuania while his mother was still a child. At the age of 19, in 1996, Žiemelis started his first company, a credit management and verification system, which he sold in 2004. Since then, he launched over a dozen businesses in different industries, managed five IPOs and raised over $1 billion. Žiemelis is a well-known aviation expert. He was named twice as one of the most talented young leaders in the global aerospace industry under age 40 according to the ''

Aviation Week ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network, a division of Informa. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aeros ...

''. He was acknowledged by the European Business Awards and received the national champion award in the entrepreneurship category for his visionary inspiration and innovative approach to business development while leading Avia Solutions Group. In 2023, Žiemelis ranked as one of Lithuania's most influential businessmen by

Delfi.lt Delfi (occasionally capitalized as DELFI) is a news website in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania providing daily news, ranging from gardening to politics. It ranks as one of the most popular websites among Baltic users. Delfi operates in the re ...

. He is regular columnist for AeroTime since 2019, where he writes about the aviation industry's trends.

Business

Most of Žiemelis' wealth is derived from his stake in the

aviation industry An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

. He has invested in multiple businesses across several different sectors and has taken five companies public. In 2010, as chairman of the board of aviation company Avia Solutions Group (ASG), he started the process of taking the company to an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO). However, the IPO was postponed for one year due to what Žiemelis considered a low opening share price. In 2011, ASG became the first Lithuanian company to be listed on the

Warsaw Stock Exchange The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) () is a stock exchange in Warsaw, Poland. Founded in 1817, it was located in the Saxon Palace until 1877 when it was moved to the Exchange Building at the Saxon Garden. Currently, it is located at ul. Książęca ...

. In 2013, also as chairman of the board of Avia AM Leasing (an aircraft leasing, acquisition and sales company), Žiemelis led the company to an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. In 2014, Žiemelis launched international duty-free operator Globus Distribution with partner

ŽIA valda ŽIA valda is a Lithuanian investment company pursuing projects of higher profit margin, usually, by establishing and consistently developing a new business unit, by consolidating companies of one business sector into one larger company or by acq ...

Pharmaceuticals

In 2017 he established the pharmaceutical holding Pharnasanta Group. As of 2024 he is no longer associated with the company.

Basketball

In 2022, Gediminas Žiemelis introduced his basketball club BC Wolves. BC Wolves are already competing in the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

(LKL) and the

European North Basketball League The European North Basketball League (ENBL) is regional professional men's club basketball league in northern, central and eastern Europe; it has been organised since 2021. ENBL format is based on the European Youth Basketball league (founded in ...

(ENBL). The club is currently playing its home matches in

Alytus Alytus () is a city with Town privileges, municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, sixth-largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, 14th-largest city in the Baltic ...

Arena but will move to the newly renovated Avia Solutions Group Arena in Vilnius in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ziemelis, Gediminas 1977 births Living people Businesspeople from Vilnius Businesspeople in aviation Vilnius Gediminas Technical University alumni Mykolas Romeris University alumni Lithuanian businesspeople Lithuanian basketball chairmen and investors