Government takes over No. 2 Parex Banka

Andris Straumanis | 

The Latvian government has taken over the country’s second-largest bank in a move it says is meant to protect taxpayers and bank customers.

Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis on Nov. 8 announced the government’s decision to take a 51 percent share in Parex Banka, according to media reports. The bank has more than 400,000 retail customers.

Finance Minister Atis Slakteris told journalists that in taking the decision, the government acted in the interest of taxpayers and bank clients. Parex, according to media reports, has experienced a recent drop in assets and could have faced bankruptcy.

“This responsible step is a signal that points to the government’s ability to act and decisiveness,” he said in a statement to the press. “The bank sector is especially important to the country, because it forms the lifeblood of the nation’s economy.”

The decision comes after weeks of speculation and warnings about a looming economic crisis in Latvia. The leading financial ratings services, most recently Moody’s Investors Service, have all cut their outlooks for Latvia.

“The global liquidity crisis will probably cause a shock to the Latvian banking system, which will reverberate throughout the rest of the economy,” Moody’s Senior Analyst Kenneth Orchard said Nov. 7 after the service downgraded Latvia’s currency rating. However, Moody’s noted that the presence of several large Nordic banks should offer stability to the Latvian market.

The Latvian government’s share in Parex will be controlled by the state-owned Hipotēku un zemes banka (Mortgage and Land Bank of Latvia).

Just weeks ago Parex reported a LVL 12.4 million profit for the third quarter of this year. With assets standing at LVL 3.14 billion at the close of third quarter, Parex is Latvia’s second-largest financial institution, according to the Latvian Commercial Bank Association. No. 1 is Swedbank, with LVL 5.12 billion in assets, while No. 3 is SEB Bank with LVL 2.99 billion. Hipotēku un zemes banka is ranked No. 8 with about LVL 959 million in assets.

Parex was established in 1992 and has been controlled by Valery Kargin and Vladimir Krasovitsky. It has offices and affiliates in 14 countries.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Zatlers congratulates Obama on U.S. election victory

Andris Straumanis | 

Calling him a friend to Latvia, President Valdis Zatlers has congratulated Barack Obama on his election Nov. 4 as the 44th president of the United States.

Obama, a first-term U.S. senator from Illinois, defeated John McCain, a veteran Republican senator from Arizona. He becomes the country’s first African American president and will take office on Jan. 20.

“Barack Obama is a friend to Latvia, because he has earlier shown his support for Latvia,” Zatlers said in a press release from his office. “One confirmation of that is his participation in the U.S. Senate resolution on the 90th anniversary of Latvia, which notes the illegality of the decades-long occupation of Latvia.”

Obama on Sept. 8 became a cosponsor of the resolution, S.Con.Res.87, which congratulates Latvia on the anniversary of its Nov. 18, 1918, declaration of independence and calls on the U.S. president to ask Russia to acknowledge that the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states was illegal. The resolution was adopted by the Senate on Sept. 16 and sent to the House of Representatives for consideration. However, the House has yet to act on the Senate resolution or on its own, similar resolution, H. Res. 1405. Both documents are still before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Latvia has always enjoyed the support of both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations, Zatlers said, and he expects continued strengthening of relations with the United States. Latvia expects the election of Obama will promote even closer cooperation between North America and Europe, Zatlers added.

Latvian Foreign Minister Māris Riekstiņš sent a letter of congratulations to Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who was Obama’s running mate and becomes the next vice president of the United States. The letter, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release, notes Biden’s role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Commiittee, his personal investment in promoting U.S.-Latvian relations and his strong support for Latvia’s membership in the NATO defense alliance.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Compilation honors career of the other Fomins

Egils Kaljo | 

Labākās dziesmas

One of the most recognizable voices of the Liepāja rock scene has always been Ivo Fomins. To honor his career so far, MICREC this summer released the compilation compact disc Labākās dziesmas.

Brother of legendary Latvian singer Igo Fomins, Ivo has always tended toward a harder rock sound while Igo—despite having spent time in the hard rock band Līvi—leaned more towards pop songs as well as theater music. Although he has often been in his brother’s shadow, Ivo established himself as a star in recent years, particularly through his work with Tomass Kleins in the duo Fomins un Kleins. Sadly, they have disbanded, supposedly due to the standard “creative differences,” with Fomins looking more towards a heavier sound in their music and Kleins embracing popular music. These trends are made clearer by the more aggressive sound on Fomins’ solid 2006 solo CD Palikt vienam, while Kleins went on to work with rising pop star Andris Ērglis in the group Cacao.

Fomins’ career did not start with Fomins un Kleins, but the duo’s popularity brought him many new fans. One of the first groups he performed with professionally was Neptūns during the mid 1980s. He was also one of the members of Liepājas brāļi. Other groups with which he has been associated include Libau and Melnā princese, where he performed with guitarist Felikss Ķiģelis. In 2003, he began work with Kleins, producing two excellent albums—2003’s Muzikants and 2004’s Dzimis Latvijā—and even participated in 2004’s Eurovision Song Contest with the tune “Dziesma par laimi.”

The bulk of the Labākās dziesmas collection is taken from the two Fomins un Kleins albums,  but two of their bigger hits, “Solījums” and “Sniegs,” are conspicuous by their absence. There is also an unreleased track, “Uz neatgriešanos.” It is odd that no space was found for another track, “Notiks tā kā jānotiek,” which can only be found on the collection 100% svaigs Nr. 8. But no matter. The work of the duo was outstanding and they produced some of the best Latvian pop-rock songs in recent memory.

Many of the tracks have been newly re-recorded, including one Fomins un Kleins song, “Muzikants.” The albums also has one completely new song, “Mēs dzīvojam pasakās.” I think it would have been far more interesting to hear the originals, so that one could follow the progress of this singer, but since many of these older recordings are no longer available, new versions are just as good. Songs re-recorded include the old Līvi track “Sniega velns,” as well as “Viņa raud,” from his solo album Palikt vienam. Both songs feature singer and actress Ieva Pļavniece, with whom Fomins performed on the Latvian reality TV show “Zvaigžņu lietus” earlier this year. Also re-recorded are two songs from Melnā princese, “Melna saule” and “Lūdz lai.” The song “Viena dziesma” from the new theater work “Liepājas stāsts” is included, too.

Lyrics for a few of the songs are offered in the liner notes, as well as chords for “Viņa raud.” Unfortunately, no real biographical information is included about the singer, and it is not made clear with which groups he originally recorded the older songs.

Otherwise this is an excellent set from an excellent vocalist. It is unfortunate that Fomins un Kleins broke up, since the best songs on this set are from the duo. Also, the songs chosen for this set do not indicate the heavier direction that Fomins went with his solo album. They seem to be re-recorded with a more “popular” sound for a larger audience. In any case, it is great to have these older songs, as well as the best of Fomins’ more recent work, all on one CD. As one of the most distinctive voices to have come from Liepāja, it is a well-deserved honor.

Details

Labākās dziesmas

Ivo Fomins

MICREC,  2008

MRCD 385

Where to buy

Purchase Labākās dziesmas from BalticShop.

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Egils Kaljo is an American-born Latvian from the New York area . Kaljo began listening to Latvian music as soon as he was able to put a record on a record player, and still has old Bellacord 78 rpm records lying around somewhere.