Rudolf Meroni

Aleksejs Ovods – a person who pretends to be a/s Latvijas Naftas Tranzīts (LNT) Management Board member – submitted to the Riga Regional Court a frivolous claim for alleged damages, which was partly satisfied, to attach bank accounts of legitimate LNT’s officials. Such a court ruling is shocking, Ventbunkers informs.

It is not clear why the Riga Regional Court has agreed to accept such a frivolous claim based on distorted facts and submitted by a person, who, in accordance with the Latvian Commercial Law, has no right to be in the LNT Management Board.

Rudolf Meroni, the legitimate Chairman of the LNT Supervisory Board, believes that the Riga Regional Court ruling made by judge Liga Blumina on May 21 serves the interests of the oligarchs Olafs Berkis, Olegs Stepanovs and the accused Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs. According to Meroni, the goal of such a ruling is to help the said persons get illegally control over 80 million dollars on LNT bank accounts.

Besides, Meroni also raises concern about the fact that the Latvian oligarchs have started using criminal methods to meet their selfish interests. Recently, persons close to Berkis and Stepanovs have threatened a number of officials in a/s Ventbunkers and LNT Management Board, calling on them to leave Latvia. Ventbunkers and LNT Management Boards are legitimately controlled by Meroni.

Taking into account the threats, Meroni believes that the Riga Regional Court ruling is just one of the steps deliberately taken and aimed at strengthening Berkis, Stepanovs and Lembergs’ influence in the unlawfully seizing of control of Ventbunkers and LNT.

The Riga Regional Court ruling again casts a shadow on the independence of the Latvian judicial system. Meroni points out that it is a pity that the Enterprise Register serves oligarchs’ interests. In the Latvian media, the Riga Regional Court chairwoman Sandra Strence has long been associated with alleged dependency on the so-called Lembergs “scholarships”.

Meroni reminds that Berkis and Stepanovs got hold of influence at Ventbunkers and its subsidiary with criminal methods, falsifying documents and Ventbunkers shareholders’ register. None of the legitimate LNT officials have ever done any illegitimate steps with the LNT monies. The allegedly stolen amounts were exclusively used for normal and legitimate business purposes of LNT and VBU. The only point is that the falsifiers do not know for what the amounts were used, because they seized control over LNT and VBU in a criminal way.

In response to the Riga Regional Court ruling, Meroni has approached the court, asking the judge to remove the temporary measure to arrest the bank accounts. He has requested the court to grant access to the court ruling and its rationale. Meroni is also considering the possibility to address the Supreme Court, challenging the absurd Riga Regional Court’s ruling.

As reported, the Riga Regional Court has appointed Meroni as the manager of the state assets arrested in a number of companies, secretly owned by Lembergs. His responsibility is to see to it that the assets do not drop in value. The seized assets include the beneficial owner’s rights and a number of shares that establish the beneficial owner’s millions-worth interest in companies as Ventbunkers, LNT, AS Kalija parks, AS Ventspils tirdzniecības osta.