Vilnis Edvīns Bresis (30 January 1938 in

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

– 25 October 2017) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

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

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

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-o ...

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 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 ...

, one of the leaders of the pro-independence

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia () 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 Sąjūdis movement in Li ...

. 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 28 Jul ...

for the centre-left Political Union of Economists and worked in

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, 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 m ...

after that. From 2002 until 2010, Bresis was member of the parliament, elected from the

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers (, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is positioned in the centre on the ...

. He died on 25 October 2017 at the age of 79.

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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