Guntis Beļavskis

The Council of Citadele Bank has decided to entrust the duties of the Chairman of the bank to its previous manager Guntis Beļavskis.

His candidacy was proposed by the bank Council’s formed nomination committee, manager of the bank’s corporate communications Baiba Ābelniece reports.

The candidates for the post of Chairman of the Board of Citadele Bank were selected by a professional personnel selection company. Candidate names were then forwarded to the nomination committee for further review. Chosen representatives of the Privatization agency and the European Reconstruction and development bank – who are also shareholders of Citadele Bank – as well as one independent expert of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance, were part of the committee.

After the review of the nomination committee was heard, the Council of Citadele Bank decided to entrust the duties of Chairman of the Board to the current manager – Beļavskis.

Beļavskis manages Citadele Bank since May 1, 2012. He has been a member of the Board of the Citadele Bank since its foundation on June 30, 2010 up until April 30, 2012.

Beļavskis is grateful to the committee for the trust it provided to him when recommending his candidacy.

«We have worked hard to come up with the bank’s business strategy and the new culture of the organization – as a result, our results now are much better than we anticipated. Citadele Bank governance model is officially recognized as the best among state capital companies in the Baltic Countries. The work we have done has begun to yield results; the banks value goes up. Therefore, I am proud of my team and I fully trust them,»- says the bank’s Chairman.

Beļavskis also said that the current situation in European and global financial sectors should expect more challenges, and the increase of effectiveness and ensuring control over expenses and profitability should be the main priorities for the future.

Klavs Basks, Chairman of the Council of Citadele Bank, notes that the bank has been developing stably, reaching significant business-results, and paid the state all the loans before the stated deadlines. The bank must continue its work on increasing effectiveness and ensuring a long term result. The main objectives of the Chairman will include: continuing work on improving the bank’s activities, ensuring the best possible results in client service; and motivating employees of the bank to continue their work that is full of challenges.

«The bank’s manager should have experience and the ability to reach strategic goals, which lies in the foundation of a successful development. Beļavskis, both in his previous work and in the evaluation of candidates confidently confirmed his professionalism,»- Basks notes, expressing confidence that under Beļavskis Citadele Bank will continue its development.

Guntis Beļavskis has ten years of experience in working in the banking sector and more than 15 years of experience in the sphere of business. In 2002, he was invited to join Parex Bank as the manager of the Sales department. One year after, he was appointed as the manager of the Marketing and Sales department; a year after, he became the leader of the private persons and small and medium business servicing network. In December 2008, after Parex bank was taken over by the Latvian state, Guntis Beļavskis was invited to join the Board of Parex Bank, and after the successful division of the bank, to join the Board of Citadele Bank. G.Belyavskis graduated from the Riga Institute of Transport and Communications, where he received a bachelor’s degree in “Business Administration”.

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