LOK and LBS engaged in a public and conflicting exchange of opinions this weekend, after information about the involvement of his former and current family members in companies that provide services to Olympic centers came to light in an interview with LOK president Žorž Tikmera by Latvian Television (LTV) “Sporta Studias”.
LOK and LBS engaged in a public and conflicting exchange of opinions this weekend, after information about the involvement of his former and current family members in companies that provide services to Olympic centers came to light in an interview with LOK president Žorž Tikmer by Latvian Television (LTV) “Sporta studijas”.
President of the Latvian Olympic Committee (LOK) Žoržs Tikmers rejects suspicions of a possible conflict of interest, as his spouses end up in the ranks of members of the same LOC-related companies, claiming that he can see the desire of the Latvian Basketball Association (LBS) to carry out a smear campaign against him in the fight for influence of LOK.
The LTV sports news editorial team reported on Saturday that several companies related to Tikmera have been long-term suppliers of the LOK and the Olympic centers under its auspices. Some of them had it during the time when Tikmers was the vice-president and general secretary of the LOK, and a couple – when he had already become the president of the LOK.
LTV received confirmation of information about five companies – SIA “SC Kafe”, SIA “Ice Ring”, SIA “Plus Fitness”, SIA “Express Travel” and SIA “Rumba koženerācija” – in which Tikmer’s ex-wife was or still is the co-owner at some point Gita Ducmane and current spouse Inese Celmiņa. In three companies, Celmiņa became a co-owner instead of Ducmane when Tikmers divorced Ducmane.
The business sectors of these companies are catering, gym rental, ice rink supply, cogeneration and travel services. In some companies, the spouse of former LOK President Vilnius Baltiņš and the daughter of former financial director Alda Āboliņš also own capital shares, reports LTV.
Publicly available information shows that Inese Tikmere (Celmiņa) is a doctor – certified urologist. She works at the “Gailezers” urology clinic of Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS), as well as at Riga Stradins University.
She became a co-owner of four companies – SIA “SC Kafe”, SIA “Ice Ring”, SIA “Plus Fitness” and SIA “Rumba koženerācija” – at about the same time – in the middle of 2017, moreover, membership in three of the mentioned companies was terminated at about the same time.
In an interview with “Sporta studijai”, Tikmers denies his influence on the choice of these merchants in providing services to the Olympic centers, which are private companies.
After the interview, Tikmers called the reaction of the sports community in a public statement on Saturday a defamation campaign directed against him and his family.
“I would like to clarify that my ex-spouse was a co-owner in five capital companies, however, the capital shares of four companies owned by her were sold several years ago. No losses were caused to athletes and federations, no claims were received from other merchants or service recipients,” Tikmera was quoted in the LOK statement. said.
Apart from this provided information, Tikmers asks the LOK Ethics Commission and the LOK auditor to check the information.
Tikmers expresses his confusion that a few weeks ago LOK members could ask all these questions at the General Assembly session of the organization, but they were not received.
“In my opinion, not being able to get a majority mandate among the members to organize a coup and my resignation from the post of LOK president during the General Assembly, a public defamation campaign is being used to achieve this goal and even my family is involved in it,” emphasizes Tikmers.
Tikmers also expresses his regret, stating that this campaign is being organized under the leadership of one of the leading federations – LBS, which suggests that the interests of a narrow group are being realized, sacrificing the reputation of the sports industry and the Olympic movement.
LBS on Sunday, in response to Tikmer’s statement, emphasized that the public statements of the LOK president harm the reputation of LBS. LBS calls on Tikmer to provide evidence of the fact that LBS influences the content of public television in order to organize a smear campaign against him. Also, LBS calls on the LOK Ethics Commission and administrative institutions to evaluate both the president’s public statements and the facts mentioned in the public space.
LBS also appeals to the public television management and other state and non-state media organizations to draw attention to Tikmer’s expressed suspicions, which affect the principles of public television content creation, and to assess their validity within the scope of their competence.
LTV also reports that the disclosure of such information is probably one of the means of the opposition of the LOK leadership for the desired change of power in the organization. The television reports that before the General Assembly, an informal meeting took place in the LBS premises, in which the officials of Latvia’s largest Olympic federations took part.
The information available on the portal “Firmas.lv” shows that SIA “SC Kafe” was founded in 2005 and is owned by Juris Bankovskis, Santa Puča and Kaspars Indriksons. Tikmere was in the circle of owners from 2017 to the end of 2022. The company conducts its economic activity in the Olympic Sports Center.
The company “Ice Ring” was founded in 2008, and its owners are Zigmunds Birzītis and Andrejs Arājs. Inese Celmiņa was one of the owners of this commercial company between the summer of 2017 and the middle of 2019.
SIA “Plus Fitness” was founded in 2014, its owners are Olga Skliareviča, Igor Skliarevičs and Zane Feldmane. Celmiņa also became the owner of this company in the summer of 2017, being there until the end of the summer of 2019.
The company “Rumba cogeneration”, founded in 2009, was excluded from the register in 2020. The company was owned by Dmitriy Krasohin, Viktor Pilkevich, Maksim Pikalyov and Andrey Araj before its termination. Celmiņa was part of the owners of this company from mid-2017 to the end of summer 2019.
Meanwhile, Gita Ducmane left the ranks of the companies “Ice Ring”, “SC Kafe” and “Plus Fitness” less than a year before Celmiņa found a place in them.
Leave a Comment