Valery Belokon and the special services. An agent named Valery Belokon was found on the KGB lists. Don’t frighten off your intuition.

Valery Belokon has received the first £10 million of more than £33 million (€37.56 million) that he is owed in a High Court ruling on 6 November.

Last week, the High Court in London rejected the request of the Oyston family (Karl and Owen Oyston) to reduce the amount of the first payment to 2.5 million pounds or to extend the court's 28-day period from the announcement of the verdict to the first payment. The Oystons told the court they needed 12 months to pay the full amount. Mr Belokon's lawyers believe that all of the more than £33 million must be paid within 6 months. The judge agreed with Mr. Belokon's opinion. Pointing out that 12 months is too long. It is planned that before Christmas the court will establish a further payment schedule for the remaining more than 23 million pounds.

A little more than two years passed from Mr. Belokon’s appeal to the High Court of London against the Oyston family to the receipt of the first payment.

As previously reported, on November 6, the High Court of London ruled that the Oystons (Owen Oyston, Karl Oyston) must buy back shares of the football club owned by Baltic International Bank shareholder Belokon for 31.2 million pounds (35.09 million euros) for violating the rights of minority shareholders .

In addition, the Oystons must pay Belokon legal costs, which amounts to another £2 million.

Thus, Valery Belokon managed not only to resolve the protracted conflict between the club’s shareholders, but also to return the cost of 10 years of investment.

This is another victory for Belokon in an international lawsuit. In February this year, a Manchester court upheld the Belokonya company's claim against the co-owners of the Blackpool football club, the Oyston family, for an unpaid share of profits amounting to about £1 million. In turn, in 2014, the International Court of Arbitration in Paris ruled that the Kyrgyz Republic was obliged to pay Belokon $16.5 million for the illegally expropriated Manas Bank.

Legal proceedings for violation of the rights of minority shareholders were initiated by VB Football Assets, owned by Latvian entrepreneur Valeri Belokon, against the co-owners of the Blackpool Football Club - Karl and Owen Oyston and their companies.

Mr Belokon's claim was brought because, since the promotion of Blackpool Football Club (BFC) to the Premier League in 2010, the Oystons have transferred tens of millions of pounds of BFC funds to other Oyston-owned companies through unsecured, interest-free loans and paid Owen Oyston £11 million in salary for acting as director. These actions were carried out by the Oystons without the knowledge of V. Belokon, and without involving him in decision-making. Belokon was also not paid part of the profits due to him. As a result of the above actions, the rights of minority shareholders were violated.

At the same time, the Oystons did not invest enough money in the football team, despite the fact that the so-called "parachute payments" when the BFC left the Premier League exceeded £100 million over many years. As a result, the team dropped from the level of the Premier League to the level of the third strongest football league in a few years.

In 2006, having joined BFC, Baltic International Bank shareholder V. Belokon invested in the development of the team. Initially, Belokon's investment gave the club real money. Then, an investment agreement with Segesta Limited guaranteed the necessary improvements to the stadium's infrastructure and the construction of new stands for the convenience of fans. And finally, V. Belokon created a fund to attract and pay highly qualified coaches and players. These investments by V. Belokon and his active, targeted participation in the development of the club allowed BFC to enter the Premier League in a few years.

Latvia has opened public access to the files of KGB agents of the Latvian SSR and some other documents of the Soviet intelligence service. Azattyk writes about this.

Among the agents was the name of Valery Belokon. As Svoboda.org writes, we are talking about a banker and owner of the British football club Blackpool. He is known in Kyrgyzstan as an associate of Maxim Bakiyev, the son of the former president, and as the head of Manas Bank, which was named as one of five banks involved in money laundering.

History of Belokon in Kyrgyzstan

Valery Belokon in 2007, during the reign of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in Kyrgyzstan, transformed Insan Bank into Manas Bank. After the April 2010 events, the interim government transferred the bank to the state balance sheet and introduced external management.

In 2011, Belokon filed a claim against Kyrgyzstan in the International Arbitration Court - “in connection with the expropriation of the credit institution Manas Bank owned by him.” On October 24, 2014, the international court ordered

In January 2015, Kyrgyzstan appealed to the Paris Court of Appeal, indicating that the bank was involved in laundering criminal proceeds. On February 21, 2017, the court overturned the decision in favor of Belokon. The court also recovered 300 thousand euros of legal costs from Belokon in favor of Kyrgyzstan.

The appeal court ruling said that Belokon acquired Manas Bank to launder money and that because of his “privileged” relationship with the president’s son, Maxim Bakiyev, illegal transactions at the bank went undetected. Over 2 years and 8 months, the total turnover of operations at Manas Bank amounted to $5.2 billion. “The success of [Manas Bank] in such a short period of time in a developing country cannot be explained by ordinary banking practice,” the document notes.

In May 2017, the Pervomaisky District Court sentenced Valery Belokon in absentia to 20 years in prison with confiscation of property on charges of money laundering. In the same case, Maxim Bakiev was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

The Latvian businessman said that the court verdict was politically motivated, and Manas Bank did not violate the laws. In his latest correspondence with The Guardian, he said the Kyrgyz government had made "baseless allegations" against him and fabricated evidence using misinterpretations, manipulation and "outright falsification of documents."

Belokon, Valery Ivanovich

Director of the Institute of Physics and Information Technologies of the Far Eastern State University; born on December 25, 1939 in the town of Voroshilov, Primorsky Territory; graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Far Eastern State University in 1962, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; specialist in the field of theoretical physics and physics of magnetic phenomena; Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Honorary Worker of Higher Professional Education of the Russian Federation; studied the possibility of using disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field by long waves in the ocean as harbingers of destructive tsunami waves.

Large biographical encyclopedia. 2009 .

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The businessman and son of the former President of Kyrgyzstan was found guilty in absentia of organizing a crime and leading a criminal community (Part 4 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan), corruption in the interests of a criminal community (Part 2 of Article 303 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic), aiding and abetting a crime (Part 6 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic) and laundering of criminal proceeds by a criminal group (part 3 of article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic).

Valery Belokon was convicted in absentia under the same articles and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 20 years, to be served in a maximum security colony. It also talks about confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to engage in activities in the banking sector for a period of three years.

[Interfax, 05/16/2017, “The son of ex-president of Kyrgyzstan Bakiev was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment”: Maxim Bakiev is in international wanted list and currently lives in London. Belokon also left the country after the revolution in 2010. The Manas Bank, which belonged to him, was nationalized. - Insert K.ru]

The ex-chairman of the National Bank, Marat Alapaev, was found guilty of the same crimes and was sentenced to a similar punishment, with the only difference being the term: he would have to serve 25 years in a maximum security colony.

Others involved in the case - Evgeniy Verbitsky, Anita Lase, Sergei Kostyrin, Yuri Kachnov and Cholpon Imanalieva - were found guilty of complicity in the commission of an intentional crime (Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic), laundering of criminal proceeds by a criminal group (Part 3 of Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic ). [...]

The preventive measure remained the same - detention in absentia.

The arrest imposed on all real estate of Manas Bank CJSC by the resolution of the head of the investigative group of the investigative department of the State Service for Combating Economic Crimes dated February 24, 2017 was also left unchanged.

The arrest imposed on all bank accounts opened in Manas Bank CJSC by legal entities and individuals by the resolution of the senior investigator of the SG Investigative Directorate of the State Service for Combating Economic Crimes dated June 20, 2016 was also left unchanged.

Accomplices of Bakiyev and Belokon received from 7 to 25 years in prison

Yana Bayburina

On May 12, the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek passed a verdict against Maxim Bakiev, Valery Belokon, Evgeniy Verbitsky, Anita Lase, Sergei Kostyrin, Yuri Kachnov, Marat Alapaev, Cholpon Imanalieva.

All of them were prosecuted for corruption and money laundering in companies in Kyrgyzstan.

Thus, the judicial panel of the Pervomaisky District Court ruled:

Maxim Kurmanbekovich Bakiev was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 4 of Article 30 and Part 2 of Article 303; part 6 of article 30 and part 3 of article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

According to Part 4 of Art. 30 and part 2 art. 303 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic - in the form of imprisonment for a period of 17 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to engage in activities in the banking sector for a period of three years;

According to Part 6 of Art. 30 and part 3 of Art. 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic - in the form of imprisonment for a period of 9 years with confiscation of property.

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed penalties, Bakiyev Maxim Kurmanbekovich is finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 20 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to engage in activities in the banking sector for a period of three years.

Based on Article 60 of the same code, partially add to the imposed punishment the punishment according to the verdict of the Pervomaisky District Court dated September 21, 2016 and finally determine Maxim Kurmanbekovich Bakiev a sentence of life imprisonment with a fine in the amount of fifty minimum monthly wages (5 thousand soms) with confiscation property and deprivation of the right to hold public office for a period of three years, with the sentence being served in a special regime colony.

Valery Valerievich Belokon was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 4 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 4 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 4 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 4 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; part 3 of article 30 and part 2 of article 303 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed sentences, Valery Valerievich Belokon is finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 20 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to engage in activities in the banking sector for a period of three years, serving the sentence in a maximum security colony.

Evgeniy Ivanovich Verbitsky was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed sentences, Evgeniy Ivanovich Verbitsky was finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 20 years with confiscation of property and serving the sentence in a maximum security colony.

Lase Anita Yurievna was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; part 1 of article 30 and part 3 of article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed punishments, Lasa Anita Yuryevna is finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 20 years with confiscation of property and serving the sentence in a maximum security colony.

Sergei Aleksandrovich Kostyrin was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed sentences, Sergei Aleksandrovich Kostyrin is finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 20 years with confiscation of property and serving the sentence in a maximum security colony.

Yury Aleksandrovich Kachnov was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183; Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed sentences, Yuri Aleksandrovich Kachnov is finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 20 years with confiscation of property and serving the sentence in a maximum security colony.

Alapaev Marat Ormonbekovich was found guilty of committing crimes under Part 6 of Article 30 and Part 2 of Article 303; part 6 of article 30 and part 3 of article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and impose punishment on them:

Based on Article 59 of the same code, by partial addition of the imposed penalties, Marat Ormonbekovich Alapaev is finally sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 19 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to hold public office for a period of three years.

Based on Article 60 of the same code, partially add to the imposed punishment the punishment imposed by the verdict of the Oktyabrsky District Court of October 20, 2015 and finally determine Marat Ormonbekovich Alapaev a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 25 years with confiscation of property and deprivation of the right to hold public office for a period of 25 years. three years with a sentence served in a maximum security colony.

Imanalieva Cholpon Nasyrbekovna was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 30 and Part 3 of Article 183 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic and sentenced her to imprisonment for a period of 7 years with confiscation of property, serving the sentence in a high-security colony.

The court also decided to seize real estate owned privately by Manas Bank CJSC:

Cash funds in the amount of 109 million 611 thousand 840 soms located on the settlement accounts of the Agency for Bank Reorganization and Debt Restructuring shall be converted into income of the Kyrgyz Republic;

The non-residential premises, privately owned by Manas Bank CJSC, located on Logvinenko Street, should be converted into state income.

Let us remind you that Valery Belokon became known in Kyrgyzstan as one of the partners of the ex-president’s son Kurmanbek Bakiyev- Maxim Bakiev. Belokon has been the founder and owner of Manas Bank since 2007. After the overthrow of Bakiyev, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic introduced a temporary management regime in Manas Bank and four other banks in connection with the commission of large-scale suspicious transactions in such banks. Subsequently, Manas Bank CJSC went bankrupt.

On October 31, the government of the Kyrgyz Republic sends out the decision of the Paris International Arbitration on the trial with the Latvian businessman Valery Belokon around Manas Bank. Kyrgyzstan is obliged to pay more than $15 million, and not $16.5 million, as previously reported. Belokon, in turn, is obliged to transfer 100 percent of the bank's shares to the Kyrgyz authorities.

Later, the investigation into the criminal case against Belokon and Bakiev was completed, all materials were transferred to the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek.

Valery Belokon: “Today the need for personality is very high. Everyone is looking for a leader - this is vital.” Photo: Toms Nords.

Over 25 years of activity Baltic International Bank Its main shareholder Valery Belokon and I did more than one interview. And every time he managed to surprise us. And now, in a difficult period for Latvian banks, he does not complain, does not look for those to blame, but concentrates and tries to defend not only his business, but the entire industry - both before clients, and before the Latvian government, and before international institutions.

Don't frighten off your intuition

Do you trust your intuition?
Necessarily. But what is intuition? This is a very high concentration of experience. The question is how not to confuse it with anything, to hear it, not to be afraid. When you start thinking about how to catch the ball, you will definitely miss it and not catch it. So it is material.

But you became involved in finance even before banking...
If you look for the origins, then I have always had a craving for something new. I first felt this in the newspaper “Soviet Youth” when I worked in the sports department. Then perestroika had already begun, cooperatives and private taxis arose... And it so happened that I was assigned to write on new topics. Then I discovered a lot for myself and realized that I really liked it all.

As a result, thanks to the cooperative movement, he started doing business himself. And in 1990, a year before independence, my partners and I opened the first exchange on the territory of the USSR, which began to deal in securities and shares that were quoted on Western exchanges. The first business newspaper Kommersant, recently created by Volodya Yakovlev, included us in the list of companies that you should definitely write about.

We then traveled to seven stock exchanges in Europe in the “nine”. Before that, they wrote letters there saying Baltic Stock Exchange wants to meet with the leadership, and we were received by five vice-presidents - in Geneva, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Vienna. And in an Austrian bank Creditanstalt AG opened brokerage correspondent accounts for securities.

We were essentially a brokerage company. But with a fair amount of self-confidence. In order to look more respectable, they rented premises in the House of Congresses (then it was the House of Political Education) and began advertising in the Izvestia newspaper throughout the post-Soviet space. It made an impression. People thought that since they were allowed to operate with securities, and even in the House of Political Education, then it was possible - and it worked.

And then, with the first money he earned, to the surprise of many, he went to study at University of Massachusetts. I paid an unmeasurable amount for those times - 40 thousand dollars! When I arrived there, I was the only private owner; all the others were connected with states, oil, and factories.

Did studying in America change your mind?
The brain is still getting better. But it was worth paying just to see how the education system is set up, how people are treated there, what they teach. When I saw a list of subjects that consisted of 30-40% human resources - philosophy, psychology, trade negotiations, I thought: oh, I was deceived, where are the accounting, securities, numbers and graphs? But after a while I realized that everything is correct, in business, first of all, you need to be able to work with people. And this has been very useful to me in life.

So you approached the bank naturally?
I liked working with finance. We applied for a license in 1992 and received it in 1993. But since 1993, the amount of the minimum authorized capital has increased. Before that it was 25 thousand lats, but now they started demanding 500 thousand. A huge difference, we didn’t have that kind of money. And we entered into a long dispute with the Bank of Latvia that we had the right to contribute 25 thousand, because documents for a license had been submitted earlier. In the end they gave up, but told us that by the end of the year we must contribute 500 thousand. We received a license, and by the end of the year we said: why are we worse than others, who were given 3 to 5 years to transition. Since then, I always say that you have to go to the end, so that later you don’t regret that you missed something or didn’t do something.

With my beloved Katya on my favorite Harley Davidson. Photo: Toms Nords.

The main thing is to believe in yourself

Then there were other difficulties. From time to time, groups of people appeared who really wanted to buy our bank. And when we refused, they tried to find different forms of pressure. We grew up with this, learned to respond correctly in order to repel such attacks. The last time this happened was in 2012. I think: God, when will this end! There was also 2008, when everyone realized that not only Russia might not pay. And before that, in 2001, the topic of terrorism arose, which completely changed the attitude towards money. There was a need to strictly control everything.

Historically, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, most Latvian banks worked with non-residents. 15 new countries, 15 new currencies, we have one language of communication, and we naturally occupied this niche. But at some stage, it became profitable for our political elite—some because of the next elections, some for career reasons—to scold banks and non-residents. Although every country has large non-resident capital. In the States, there is even a commission under the Senate that monitors non-resident capital. After all, since 2004 we have been on the border of the European Union and Russia. If some part of the smuggling crosses the border, then it is not necessary to close the border, but to fight the smuggling!

And I think we can do a lot here. But again, some groups of officials suddenly decided that banks would not be able to separate “good” money from “bad”, that the bankers’ thirst for profit would take over. Perhaps these people were simply mistaken, or they came across unsuccessful examples in life, but the fact is obvious - we picked it up and began to criticize ourselves. And in the end, the whole world believed in it.

Yes, there were low-quality transactions in our banks. But we corrected them, and did a lot of good things so that they would not exist in the future. This is called growing pains. After all, no one collected statistics on how much “bad” money passed through us. I am in favor of setting rules and moving towards better things, but it seems to me that it is categorically impossible to say that we cannot cope. For one reason - we can handle it! Why are we worse than others?

The state is us

As a result, we created an undeservedly bad image for ourselves. What's happening today? Georgia does not accept payments from Latvia, Cyprus does not accept them, they do not say: such and such a bank, but from Latvia. People don't understand, they just don't want headaches. And then it would be funny if it weren’t so sad. The client says: I'll take the money. We answer: you have the right, but they will not be accepted in Georgia. He says: I’ll open an account in Belarus, Georgians accept from there. Can you imagine? True, when the emotions subsided, he still realized that he would not be served better than us anywhere, and he stayed.

So, every citizen of Latvia has something to think about: where do taxes come from, how is the budget formed, why can’t you always count on subsidies. The country must feed itself through honest, transparent business. And subsidies are a bonus.

Banks have been given two months to find a new business model. It's real?
You don’t always need to look for a new model; sometimes it’s enough to figure out what’s going on in your household. First, let's find out what a non-resident is. A client from the East or not only? Remember how everyone ran to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and scolded the banks for allegedly slowing down the process. So, the OECD includes South Korea, which this year was recognized by the European Union as an offshore zone. Is it resident or non-resident?

Or let's take the European Union. If the owner of the company is a German citizen, controlled by German financial authorities, pays 100% of taxes, but is from Kazakhstan by origin, a question already arises, and we begin to argue. Or someone says that it is impossible from the countries of the Eurasian Economic Cooperation. Okay, but is it possible to have 50/50 with the Germans? What about 38 by 62? What about a residence permit issued in Latvia? What about a residence permit from Malta? What about dual citizenship?

That is, a lot of questions arise. And if they are formulated inaccurately, there will again be room for interpretation, corruption, etc. Therefore, a clear legislative framework is needed, everything must be done with understanding. Banks are now meeting with politicians, expressing their points of view, and helping to prepare this base.

The most important thing is the issue of taxes and transparent activities. Let's say some Kazakh or Ukrainian sits somewhere in Germany, pays absolutely all taxes, clean and transparent, submits all audit reports - and what to do with him? Today in Latvia we do not have a clear answer. That is, this person works in Germany. He works in England, there are no complaints against him there. But we simply don’t have a law. And I don’t know whether he will appear in May or not.

You can't run ahead of the locomotive. The liberal press constantly criticizes Britain and America for accepting a lot of money that should not be accepted. I don’t think there are scoundrels there who want to deceive everyone and make money at our expense. They just understand that this is a complex, sensitive matter that should be handled very carefully.

The story of one safe: twenty years later. Photo: Toms Nords.

How to overcome a crisis of confidence

Second. We gave a presentation in Washington for the International Monetary Fund. They told us how we check clients, by what criteria and how we will check them in the future. Our American colleagues also took part in this presentation. In fact, we were responsible for the entire country. And they were the only bank that did this. This was our own initiative, no one forced us, no one gave us instructions from above.

Why to the IMF? Because they are worried about the economic situation in general and they are grateful listeners. Moreover, we invited not only those responsible for the Baltics, but a wider circle. Our employees made a presentation for 30 minutes and answered questions for 45 minutes.

During the meeting, my colleague said: if ABLV sells something, we are ready to buy. And they ask: what to buy there, they are bankrupt. They received this information from the ECB. Then my colleague begins to prove from the balance sheet that they have money. One might say, he is taking the rap for both ABLV and the entire country, avoiding answering why the ECB did this. They listened with interest. It was an open and good conversation.

Then we suggested to our Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) - can we make you a presentation on how we will check? And also together with American auditors. They were very surprised, but said, of course, it’s possible. And they asked a lot of questions. We also discussed ABLV clients: if they come, we will do this and that. We talked about our risks and the required 5%.

I will say more: we made presentations in other international institutions and they listened to us. We talked about how we carry out checks, how we see it all. One could say that they represented not only their bank, but also the country.

Clients “clean” and “impure”

In any case, I think this crisis will benefit our politicians and officials who first thought about it, in the same FKTK. Yes, now there will be various election matters. But in principle, they will have to seriously deal with this topic. Because this is a question of their reputation. But when officials see the work on our part, our willingness to reduce risks, more understanding arises.

So if we talk about 5%, then if we show that by 2020 we will have 10%, the truth of which is still unknown, then it will be good. Still, everyone understands. We must act step by step. We're not arguing about 5%. Let's first figure out what it is. It is clear that this is a political slogan. But we’ll do 5% if necessary. Anyone who wants to work will do it.

But everyone probably wants it?
What is it to want? Do you want the old way? Or in a new way? As far as we convince, and the client understands, that we still need to change, that there are certain rules that must be followed. The question is not the number of non-residents - in one country there will be 5%, in another 50%. The point is that changes are happening all over the world.

We need to see the client's real activity. His annual report. And then we will fight. Why did we take the Americans to help? We are working out for ourselves how we will work with “inconvenient” clients. Where should Uzbek or Azerbaijani investors who have registered their companies in Latvia go now? No one is trying to open accounts for them. And then the state will have no taxes. There should be common sense in everything. We, like everyone else, are interested in the market. If I find a good client from Uzbekistan or Ukraine today who wants to work honestly and transparently, then there is a high probability that he will stay with us later.

In recent years Baltic International Bank did a lot to attract Western clients. What is the point in opening an account with us to the French or Germans?
Yes, indeed, we have developed very well in Europe, in particular in the German and Austrian markets. Why not? Today we are all together in the European Union and thanks to the computer we can serve any remote client. People come to us, first of all, due to quality service.

The world is becoming so connected that a deal between New Zealand and Canada does not have to be done in one of these countries, we can take it over. In New Zealand, for example, a transaction worth 100 thousand may not be of interest to local banks, the client there may not be served very carefully, they will be forced to go to the head office, they think in millions, etc. And we can completely take this niche for ourselves.

A strong personality is not a strong hand

Have you had such authorities in your life?
For me, books have played the biggest role in my life. They introduced me to such large-scale personalities as Winston Churchill and Benjamin Franklin, who literally fascinated me. Although at some stages there were people. For example, I still remember my physics teacher Viktor Nikolaevich Ozolins. He was an engineer by training, but it was from him that I first heard about National Geographic. I didn’t like physics at all, but I liked his approach to life.

What about professionally?
In 1990, when I started working in finance, I had no one to rely on. That was the first time I heard the name Rockefeller. There were no banks in the USSR, there were distribution systems.

Chateau, Forbes family, Normandy, France. Photo: Toms Nords.

What is the scale of personality? For example, what did Winston Churchill's authority rest on? Not with bayonets, not with power, not with fear. For something else. He was a multifaceted personality, a technically savvy person, he knew how to lay bricks and painted pictures. One might say that a man-made Google was created when hundreds of people from Cambridge and Oxford searched for any reference or quotation among thousands of volumes.

Are there many heads of state who have won the Nobel Prize in Literature? Probably Churchill is the only one. By the way, he has an amazing style; he himself wrote in his memoirs that he received the best education in language. Britain is a country with unlimited freedom of speech and ample opportunities for speeches, where Winston Churchill honed his skills. People were reading, there was no rush, there was time to talk and think.

Baltic International Bank has been supporting the development of Latvian literature for many years, in particular the presentation of the annual Latvian Literary Prize (LaLiGaBa). What does the book mean to you?
A book is not a messenger, it is alive, it has a soul, and I am for the space of books to expand. Today you can find everything on Google, but this is different. I would like people to stay with books, they stimulate thought, make you think about complex things. Why Latvian? Because this is the language of my country, it is the bearer of its culture, not many people speak it, if it is not supported, it will be supplanted by English, Russian, and then there will be neither a nation nor a people.

As a child, I read Isaac Asimov’s science fiction story “Profession” - about the education system of the future, when a person does not have to learn to read himself; at the age of 8, all reading skills are automatically recorded in his brain in 15 minutes. I really liked it then. And now I would really like there to be people who produce something on their own, with their intellect and talent, and do not wait for a plug-in chip.

What do you value most in people, what qualities?
Of course, professionalism and honesty are important. But most of all I like people who have a desire to create and take initiative. In any, even the smallest area of ​​work.

That is, for you a person is not a cog, but a person with initiative?
On the one hand, I demand that instructions be followed, this is important in a bank, but on the other hand, a person must create, create. When I talk to a new employee, I want to understand: how will he do his job, with soul? Indifference in this matter is the worst thing. And if a person has initiative, then there is upward movement.

At the presentation of the unique album Terra Mariana 1186-1888. In the photo: Valery Belokon (right) and the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia, Metropolitan Archbishop Zbigniew Stankiewicz (left). Photo: Toms Nords.

And Stankevich is a unique person, I’m always interested in talking to him, and if we have the opportunity to help his good endeavors, we do it. Here I am 100% sure that the money is used for good.

Getting to know him is determined, first of all, by his personality. But in general, if you remember my family roots, then on my mother’s side I come from a Catholic family. After the war, my grandmother died, my grandfather ended up in Canada, and my mother was raised in a foster family. I searched for my relatives for a long time and found them about 5 years ago. It turned out that they live in Toronto, there is a family cemetery where grandfather is buried. And his nephew, that is, my uncle, is the head of the Catholic Latvians of Canada, a member of the Order of Malta, and a doctor by training. His name is Vilis Mileiko, he is now over 80, he comes to Latgale every year, restores churches, and conducts a lot of social activities.

He heard something about his relatives in Riga from his grandfather, but did not know anything specific. So, when I found him, I wrote a letter. And as Vilis later told me, at first he thought that poor relatives from Latvia wanted to ask for money. But I went online and realized that no money was needed. I decided to consult with my nephew, who is also connected with the bank there in Canada. He says maybe it's a joke. As a result, I did not receive an answer.

A year later, I got ready to go to the States and wrote again that I would like to visit my grandfather at the cemetery. If you don't want to meet, I'll just visit the grave. And then they answered me. I arrived and was greeted by a real Latvian family, Vilis, who speaks 7 languages ​​fluently. He gave me his grandfather’s watch on a chain, with engraving, bought in America; it turns out that he loved to wear it in his vest pocket, just like me. This is such a funny story. I later told it to Stankevich, it turned out that he and Vilis knew each other well.

Viloriy and Valery Belokon have been the constant owners of Baltic International Bank for 25 years. Photo: Toms Nords.

These are the captain's feelings I get on a yacht. I enjoy these sensations and the ability to control the wind, it’s a completely different world. Probably, in our hearts we all want to be free people, and it is the sailing fleet that gives this illusion of independence, you feel free.

Now I dream of crossing the Atlantic, but not as a passenger, but as a member of the crew, to keep a watch as it should be. I'm not a racer, I'm a traveler. I don’t always have to come first; it’s important for me to go all the way in any business.