Latvia’s new ambassador to Russia, Andris Teikmanis, has presented his credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced.

Teikmanis was one of seven ambassadors presenting their credentials in an April 20 ceremony in Moscow. He replaces Normunds Penke, whose tour of duty ended late last year.

The ceremony came less than three weeks before Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is to join other European leaders in Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day celebration, when Russia will mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Latvia’s relations with Russia have been strained for months over issues such as educational reforms that some in the Russian community in Latvia see as discriminatory. Even Vīķe-Freiberga’s decision to participate in the Victory Day remembrance is being viewed skeptically in Moscow because of her statement that World War II for Latvia didn’t end until 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Teikmanis officially began his ambassadorial duties on April 6. He previously was the undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Teikmanis also has been mayor of Rīga and Latvia’s ambassador to Germany and the Council of Europe.

Besides its embassy in Moscow, Latvia also has a consulate general in St. Petersburg and a consulate in Pskov.

Ezīši, an Estonian-Latvian folk ensemble from Indianapolis, Ind., has released its first recording, a self-titled compact disc containing 35 accoustic tracks from four Baltic cultures.

The group was founded in 2000 and uses traditional instruments, several of which were made by group members, in its performances. Group members include Ilze Akerberga, Iveta Asons, LeeAnn Biggs, Ain Haas, Leili Haas, Harrison Hansen, Tereze McAllister Inveiss and Ieva Sijats Johnson. In the Latvian-American community, Akerberga is recognized as a composer, Asons as a choreographer of folk dances and Johnson as an organizer in the cultural camp and summer high school program in the Gaŗezers center in Michigan.

The recording was completed during the fall of 2004, Johnson said. It includes songs from the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Livonian cultures.

The CD comes with booklet explaining the various instruments and songs.

The recording may be ordered from Johnson by contacting her via e-mail at sijats@yahoo.com.

The U.S. government is seeking to recover at least USD 2 million it says a founder of the bankrupt consumer credit counseling company AmeriDebt Inc. transferred to his father’s account in Latvia.

The money is part of the approximately USD 70 million the Federal Trade Commission says Andris Pukke and his wife earned from the company he co-founded in 1996.

AmeriDebt has agreed to shut down its debt management operation as part of a settlement with the FTC announced March 21. The government sued the company in November 2003, charging the company with deceiving consumers into paying at least USD 170 million in hidden fees. AmeriDebt asked for bankruptcy protection in July 2004.

The government says Pukke moved some of the money to accounts in foreign countries, including Latvia. It has asked the Federal District Court in Maryland to freeze Pukke’s assets and force him to return the money.

Pukke, his wife and others founded AmeriDebt Inc. in 1996 in Maryland. The company advertised that it helped consumers burdened with debt problems, arranging repayment plans with their creditors. AmeriDebt said it was a non-profit company, but it asked customers to make voluntary contributions to help its efforts. Pukke also set up DebtWorks, a for-profit company that processed payments for AmeriDebt.

Although it has settled with AmeriDebt, the FTC’s case against Pukke, his estranged wife and DebtWorks continues. In recent weeks, the government and Pukke’s attorneys have been arguing about whether his assets should be frozen.

Pukke’s attorneys maintain that Pukke and his companies did not deceive consumers. They filed court documents April 11 in which they also say their client’s current income goes to living expenses, tax payments and to his wife. “The transfers about which the FTC complains are past transfers, at a time when Mr. Pukke was in much better financial condition,” the attorneys wrote.

The FTC says Pukke directed the USD 2 million to be transferred from DebtWorks to his father sometime during 2003 or 2004.

Pukke’s troubles with authorities do not end with the federal government. He, his brother Eriks and the companies they control have also been sued in state courts in California, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas.