Māris Kučinskis

Māris Kučinskis
Prime Minister of Latvia
Assumed office
11 February 2016
President Raimonds Vējonis
Preceded by Laimdota Straujuma
Minister of Regional Development and Local Government
In office
2 December 2004 – 7 November 2006
Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis
Preceded by Andrejs Radzevičs
Succeeded by Aigars Štokenbergs
Personal details
Born Māris Kučinskis
(1961-11-28) 28 November 1961
Valmiera, Soviet Union
(now Latvia)
Political party People's Party (1998–2011)
Liepāja Party (2014–present)
Other political
affiliations		 Union of Greens and Farmers (2014–present)
Spouse(s) Ināra Kučinskis
Children 2
Alma mater University of Latvia

Māris Kučinskis (born November 28, 1961, near Limbaži[1]) is a Latvian politician and the current Prime Minister of Latvia.

Biography

M. Kučinskis was born on the 28th pf November, 1961, in the settlement of Kirbizhi in the Limbazhi district of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. After ordinary school at Kirbizhi he moved to the town of Valmiera, where he studied at the Secondary school №4 (1977-1980). After that he began to work as economist at Finance department of The Valmiera Board of People's Deputies. From 1981 he served in the Soviet army and then he entered Faculty of management and economic information of Latvian State University. At the same time, from 1984, began to work as the chief accountant at Valmiera plant of fire prevention equipment.

In 1987 M. Kučinskis was invited to become the chief economist of the district housing and communal department of The Valmiera Board of People's Deputies. In 1991 he founded the private company «Apgāds Ltd», which specialized at construction materials' trade. He worked there as Deputy director till 1994 and as Director in 1997-1998.

While his political activity break from November, 2011, M. Kučinskis was an adviser, Deputy Executive Director of The Association of Latvian big cities (Latvijas Lielo Pilsētu asociācijā, LLPA). This organization joins 9 Latvian cities of republican subordination. From September, 2013, till February, 2016, M. Kučinskis was a leader of it.

Political Activity

M. Kučinskis was first elected a Deputy of the Valmiera city council in 1994, he became its Chairman in 1996. In 1998 he was elected secondly, became the chairman and worked for this position till 2003. In 1998—2000 he was the Chairman of Valmiera district council at the same time. He joined the Tautas partija, People's Party in 1997.

M. Kučinskis had first become a Deputy of the Saeima in 2002 as a member of the Tautas partija (People's Party (Latvia)), when its political boss Andris Šķēle announced retirement from politics, but remained, as he stated, "ordinary member" of the People's Party and was thought to have a considerable behind-the-scene influence in the party. At cabinet, led by Aigars Kalvītis, M. Kučinskis was a Minister of Environment an Regional development in 2004-2006.

In October 2006 M. Kučinskis was once more elected a Deputy of the Saeima and became a chairman of Tautas partija fraction in parliament. Then this position was given to Vineta Muižniece. In October 2009, when Tautas partija found itself in a deep crisis, Šķēle returned to politics as the chairman of the party. Kučinskis began to work at the Board as a member. In 2010 Muižniece was elected as a judge of Constitutional Court (Satversmes tiesa), and Kučinskis returned to lead the parliament faction.

In October 2010 Kučinskis was elected as a member of the parliament from the party alliance Par Labu Latviju For a Good Latvia electoral alliance, whose member Tautas partija was.

At the extraordinary elections of 2011 Kučinskis ran from the Union of Greens and Farmers alliance, but didn't win a place in the Parliament. When his party fraction member Iveta Grīgule was elected as a Deputy of the Europarliament, he got her place in 11th Saeima. In October 2014 he was elected as a Deputy of the 12th Saeima and became the Chairman of Parliaman commission of long-term development.

On 13 January 2016 he was nominated to replace Laimdota Straujuma as the Prime Minister of Latvia, coming after her resignation the previous December. He was nominated by State President Raimonds Vējonis,[2] and his cabinet was approved by the Saeima on 11 February. He is the first Prime Minister not to be a member of the Unity Party or one of its predecessors since 2009, and the first from the ZZS since 2004.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Māris Kučinskis.

References

  1. ↑ Biogrāfija (in Latvian)
  2. ↑ "Kucinskis nominated for prime minister in Latvia". Associated Press. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by
Laimdota Straujuma		 Prime Minister of Latvia
2016–present 		Incumbent
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