Structure & Leadership

Aiga Ārste-Avotiņa has been working in the executive search business since 1996, when she joined Amrop International in Latvia as their first local representative. She developed the company into the biggest player in the market for senior level recruitment in the Baltics. As of 2019, Aiga is the Managing Partner of Amrop Latvia as well as a Partner in Amrop Ukrainian and Estonian operations.

Since 1999, when she was first appointed as a Partner, she has been leading executive search assignments in the Baltics and Ukraine, in a range of sectors, including Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Retail, IT & Telecommunications and other industries, completing over 500 executive search projects for the leading international, state-owned and local companies. She has also been leading management assessment assignments in the Baltics and Nordics.

Aiga graduated from the University of Latvia with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and has an MBA from the Riga Business School. She has also studied Executive Development Business Programs at the International Institute of Management Development in Switzerland and the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance.

Nijolė Kelpšaitė is the Managing Partner at J. Friisberg & Partners Lithuania, an executive search company, and has more than 20 years of experience in providing executive search and selection services for clients in the Lithuanian market. Nijolė has an in-depth knowledge of the job market trends and developments.

Her professional career includes such positions as heading business partner search and recruiting company Vilniaus Konsultacinė Grupė, being a Project Manager at the Open Society Fund-Lithuania and working as an economist at the Lithuanian Ministry of Economy, Department of Foreign Investment.

Since 2016, Nijolė is a Board Member at Renkuosi mokyti, a non-governmental initiative that encourages young people to choose a teaching career.

Nijolė has an International Executive’s MBA from the Kaunas Technology University, programme held together with SDA Bocconi (Italy), and a Diploma of Engineering in Economics from Vilnius University, Faculty of Finance and Cybernetics.

Marja-Liisa Soone is the Head of Legal and Compliance at Ridango AS, a leading Mass Transport IT Solutions provider in Northern and Eastern Europe.

Passionate about introducing and implementing good corporate governance in companies, Marja-Liisa has made it one of her priorities both at Ridango and, previously, at Tallinna Vesi AS, a listed and largest water utility company in Estonia.

She holds a law degree and a degree in financial management, both from Tartu University. She has also taken courses in Lund University in Sweden and Georgetown University in US.

Marja-Liisa is an alumnus of the BICG class of 2013.

Lina Kapčinskienė is the Managing director and Chair of the Management Board at Baltic Agro Machinery UAB, a company providing agricultural, forestry, construction and other machinery as well as services for its maintenance. As the company is a part of a larger group across the region, she is also among the top management on the Danish/Baltic level.

For many years now, Lina has been active publicly, in such organizations as  Junior Chamber International (JCI), the Finnish-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce (FLCC), the Association of Responsible Business Companies in Lithuania (LAVA) and the association ‘Lyderė’ for promoting women’s leadership and career striving.

Lina holds a Bachelor of Science of Business Administration from the Kaunas University of Technology and a Master’s degree from the ISM University of Management and Economics.

Lina is also one of the first graduates of the BICG, having attended in 2009. She was a member of the BICG Nomination Committee between 2013 and 2016.

She is serving on the BICG Board since 2019, and was elected to the position of the Chair in 2020.

Daiga Auziņa-Melalksne is the Head of Exchange Services at Nasdaq Baltic. She holds managerial responsibility of Baltic exchanges business unit. That includes running day to day transaction and issuer services business activities, customer relations, sales and government relations. She is also the Chair of the Management Board at Nasdaq Riga and a Management Board member at Nasdaq Tallinn.

Daiga has worked in the company since 1998. She has been a manager in stock exchange and central securities depository area, worked as a specialist in listing and information disclosure unit.

Daiga is a Board member of American Chamber of Commerce in Latvia. Since 2010, she has been a Board member of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance, including serving as the Chair in 2012-2014 and in 2016-2020.

Daiga holds an Executive MBA from the Riga Business School and Masters in Economics from the University of Latvia.

Guntars Baļčūns is a Management Board member and Chief Financial Officer at Latvenergo AS. He is also a Member of the Supervisory Board at Elektrum Lietuva UAB and Elektrum Eesti OU.

Guntars has worked at Latvenergo Group for over a decade. Previously, he was a Management Board member at Energijas publiskais tirgotajs AS and held the positions of Business Planning and Control Director and Corporate Strategy Project Manager at Latvenergo AS.

Guntars studied Economics and Business Administration at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and University of Latvia, and continued with his studies in Business Administration at the RTU Riga Business School.

He is serving on the BICG Board since 2016, being re-elected for a second tenure in 2019.

Kārlis Danēvičs is a Management Board member of SEB in Latvia. He is responsible for Credits and Risks, thus having an overview of local and Baltic economies while making credit decisions and steering the bank’s credit portfolio. Such responsibilities include making a judgement of maturity of borrowers’ governance as well as advising clients to continue improving their corporate governance.

Kārlis has previously been CFO and Head of Client Relationship Management at SEB, etc. He has also worked for SEB in Sweden, covering other geographies besides the Baltics, and also for other financial institutions.

Kārlis serves as the Head of Lending Committee in Commercial Banking Association, is a lecturer at local universities and Chair of the Supervisory Council of SOS Children Villages Association, cooperating with donors, President’s chancellery and promoting socially responsible business conduct.

He is serving on the BICG Board since 2017, being re-elected for a second tenure in 2020.

Riina Käi is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Elering AS, an electricity and gas transmission system operator in Estonia.

Previously, she has served as CFO at Tallinna Vesi AS and gained broad experience working as a development manager, financial controller, financial auditor, financial manager and chief accountant in various other companies, including Konekesko Eesti AS and Deloitte & Touche Audit AS.

Riina is a Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), since 2009.

She holds a Bachelor‘s degree in Financial Accounting and Management as well as a Master’s degree of Economic Sciences from Tallinn University of Technology.

Riina is serving on the BICG Board since 2016, being re-elected for a second tenure in 2019.

Priit Lepasepp is the CEO and Founder at the renewable energy company Sunly OÜ in Estonia.

He is also a Co-founder and Member of the Management Board at the financial services co-operative Tuleva, which owns of a pension fund management company.

Previously, Priit has worked as General Counsel at a wind energy company Nelja Energia AS, where he was responsible for all internal and external legal and regulatory issues in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Priit has obtained a BA in Law from University of Tartu and a MA in Law from Tallinn University of Technology.

He is serving on the BICG Board since 2018.

Dr Irmantas Norkus is the Managing Partner of COBALT Lithuania and Chairman of the Pan-Baltic Board of COBALT, one of the leading law firms in the region. Apart from these roles, he is a practicing lawyer advising a wide range of clients, both local and international, on high-profile and complex legal matters and focusing, among other things, on transactional and corporate governance matters.

He has more than 15 years of extensive experience in private and public M&A, competition, banking and finance, and is constantly recognized as a leading lawyer in his practice areas by the most prestigious legal directories.

Irmantas has been a member of the Lithuanian Bar Association since 1999 and a member of the International Bar Association (IBA) since 2004.

He has a Doctor’s degree in Social Sciences (Law) from Vilnius University.

Irmantas is serving on the BICG Board since 2017, being re-elected for a second tenure in 2020.

Kaarel Ots is the CEO of Nasdaq Tallinn stock exchange. He joined Nasdaq from Deloitte, where he served as the Head of Financial Advisory.

Prior to Deloitte, he worked for UniCredit Bank Estonia for 8 years, holding several positions, most recently Acting Branch Manager and Head of Corporate Banking.

Since 2012, Kaarel has served as the Member of the Management Board of FinanceEstonia – a public-private financial sector cluster organisation, promoting the development of financial markets.

Kaarel has a Master’s degree in corporate and investment banking from SDA Bocconi School of Management in Italy.

He is serving on the BICG Board since 2017, being re-elected for a second tenure in 2020.

Daiva Rakauskaitė, CFA, is a Partner at LLP Business angels fund I (since 2010) and a fund manager at LLP Business angels fund II (since 2018). She has more than 15 years of experience in private equity, and in the latter years is actively investing into start-ups and young businesses.

Daiva is Chair at Probiosanus UAB and Integrated optics UAB as well as Chair of Advisory Board at Mark ID.

Previously, she has served as a financial analyst at the Baltic Post Privatisation fund (1999-2006) and securities brokerage house Suprema (1994-1999). Daiva was also among the founders of Finance analytic‘s association in 1999. Since 2017, she is a member of the Investors’ association as well as the association ‘Lyderė’ for promoting women’s leadership and career striving.

Daiva’s basic education is in economics. In 1995, she received a diploma in Systemic Economic Analysis (Economic cybernetics) from the Vilnius University, and two years later obtained an MBA in finance from the same university. In 2003, Daiva earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation at CFA Institute.

Daiva has been a member of the BICG since 2011, she is serving on the BICG Board since 2019.

Uldis Biķis is the Chair of the Supervisory Board and previously the CEO of plywood production and forest management enterprise Latvijas Finieris, having worked at the company since 1994.

He is also a Vice President of Employers’ Confederation of Latvia, member of the Supervisory Board at the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Institute and member of the Management Board at Building Material Producers Association, also representing Latvijas Finieris in other professional organisations and NGOs

Uldis has previously served as the Board member at the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance as well.

He is Appointed Commander of the Cross of Recognition in Latvia, awarded for service to the country and outstanding merits in constitutional and public work, culture, science, sports, and education.

Education and specialisation – forestry engineer.

Gundars Bērziņš is the Chair of the Supervisory Council at a pharmaceutical company Olainfarm AS, one of the largest listed companies in Latvia.

He is also a member of the Board at the SSE Riga Foundation, member of the UL Student Business Incubator Council and Dean of the University of Latvia’s Faculty of Business, Management and Economics.

Gundars holds a doctorate in management science and has participated in many research projects as a leading researcher. He has authored a number of international scientific publications and his research interests include business strategies, automated decisions and regional economic policy.

Mārtiņš Bičevskis is an experienced director, mentor and investor.

Having served as a Board member at several state-owned companies, currently he is the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board at LatRailNet SJSC and a Board member at the Latvian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

Mārtiņš is also a member of the Executive Committee at the Latvian Olympic Committee and the President of the Latvian Handball Federation.

He is also an angel investor, a mentor in Cocoon, a de-acceleration program for startup founders and a mentor in Junior Achievement Latvia Leader’s program.

Mārtiņš co-founded EdTech Evolution & She Loves Tech Central Eastern Europe, a women-led startup competition.

Among his previous positions are the State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice as well as President of the Latvian Banking Association.

Gatis Flinters is a Partner at COBALT Latvia, with over 20 years of relevant experience and a proven record in large-scale investment projects, while advising local and foreign companies.

He is the Head of Corporate & Commercial Law practice group at COBALT Latvia and the Co-Head of the Corporate & Employment Law practice group of COBALT pan-Baltic offices.

Gatis is a member of Corporate Governance Advisory Board at the Ministry of Justice and a guest lecturer on company law at Riga Graduate School of Law.

Juta Kaktiniece is Head of Legal at SEB banka Latvia, one of the largest banks in Latvia and part of the SEB group, a leading Nordic financial services group founded in 1856.

She has been working for SEB in various positions since 2002, and as the Head of Legal since 2012.

Juta is also a Co-Chair of Legal Committee at the Finance Latvia Association.

She has Master Degree of Laws (LL.M.) in Public Law from Police Academy of Latvia and Master Degree of Laws (LL.M.) in International Maritime Law from IMO International Maritime Law Institute in Malta.

Zane Kotāne is the CFO at the pharmaceutical company Olainfarm AS, one of the largest listed companies in Latvia.

Having held various Management Board and Supervisory Council positions both in private and state-owned companies for the last 10 years, she is considered to be an expert in management, finance and corporate governance.

Zane is one of the early graduates of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance, having completed the Board member education course in 2011.

Andris Lauciņš is a Partner with audit and consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY), in charge of the consulting services quality function within EMEIA (Europe, Middle East, Europe, India, Africa) area.

Over the recent years Andris has been involved in setting up and running project/program management offices of large integrated programs, specializing in government and public sector, energy and utilities, transport sector as well as efficiency improvement projects for a wide variety of businesses.

He holds certification of Information System Auditor (CISA), was one of the Latvia ISACA chapter founders and past presidents. Andris is PRINCE 2 Certified Project Management Practitioner.

Andris has a Master’s degree in System Analysis (Engineer and Systems Analyst) from Riga Technical University and a second Masters’ degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

Previously, he has served as the Chair of the Foreign Investors Council in Latvia.

Andris is also one of the founders and current Chair of the Board of the Maternity hospital foundation.

Rinalds Sluckis is the CEO at Digital Mind AS, a pan-Baltic B2B technology consultancy.

He has 20 years of experience in enterprise business digitization and business technology implementation as a co-founder, investor and executive at several IT businesses.

Rinalds focuses on digital enterprise strategy and digital transformation.

Jānis Vanags is the CCO and member of the leadership team at Maxima Latvija, one of the leading retail chains in Latvia.

Jānis has over 10 years of experience in senior management positions in aviation, service and retail industries. During the past six years, he has also worked as a consultant and trainer on corporate affairs and emergency management for major international organizations and companies in Europe, Asia and Africa (United Nations, IATA, etc.).

He is a sought-after speaker and lecturer at universities and conferences globally, from London to Singapore, on topics ranging from marketing to intelligent automation.

Viktorija Trimbel is Managing Partner at Quantum Capital, strategic management advisory boutique, and one of the most experienced independent directors in Lithuania with finance, strategy and digital focus.

She has over 27 years of outstanding track record in corporate and strategic governance, M&A and fundraising advisory for local and international clients as well as public sector.

Listed among Top-100 Women in Tech in Europe 2012. Rotarian for over 17 years, Paul Harris Fellow (PHF), recipient of the National Rotary Award, the first female Governor of the District 1462 Lithuania.

Renata Damanskytė-Rekašienė is the Chief Legal Counselor at Lithuanian state-controlled holding company EPSO-G UAB, in charge of good corporate governance, including fostering efficient co-operation of management bodies and committees across the group of companies. EPSO-G’s governance quality is ranked A+ by the Lithuanian Governance Coordination Centre and recognized as top-notch among the country’s state-owned companies.

She is also a Board member at Amber Grid AB, the natural gas transmission system operator.

Previously, Renata gained over 8 years of experience at TGS, one of the largest law firms in Lithuania, with focus of capital markets, restructuring and insolvency as well as corporate and commercial law. She was a leading contributor from jurisdiction of Lithuania to the Studies for the European Parliament regarding Corporate Social Responsibility.

Renata has been a member of the Lithuanian Bar Association since 2014.

She has a Master’s degree in commercial law from Vilnius Law University.

Simona Grinevičienė is the Legal Office Director at Ignitis grupė AB, one of the largest energy companies in the Baltic region.

Previously, Simona gained executive experience while working in the financial sector.

During 20 years in both public and private sectors, she gained considerable expertise in various areas from law making to ensuring compliance to law.

Simona holds a Master’s degree in Law from Vilnius University and Business Management degree from the International Business School at Vilnius University. Simona is also a graduate of the BICG, having completed Board member education course in 2018.

Agnė Jonaitytė is a Partner with Primus law firm, where she heads finance and capital markets team.

She has been working with corporate, M&A and finance law for more than 18 years, and her extensive corporate governance knowledge has been built up by advising clients on various corporate governance issues as an external legal adviser as well as inhouse of a Nasdaq and Warsaw SE listed Lithuanian entity, where she acted in various positions, i.e. as a Board member responsible for corporate governance, investor relations and sustainability matters, Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs and later on as a Corporate Secretary.

Agnė continues to advice clients on various corporate governance issues on a daily basis as an external legal adviser and provider of professional corporate secretary services.

Agnė is also a graduate of both BICG Board member and Chair education programs.

Ina Muckienė is attorney-at-law, Senior Manager at PwC Legal Lithuania, which is a part of international PwC Legal network associated with PwC business consultancy firm, and has over 16 years of experience in corporate and M&A practice areas.

Ina has an in-depth knowledge of corporate governance issues related, inter alia, to formation of the management structure and building decision-making processes.

Her professional career includes over 9 years at PwC Legal, 5 years practice at Sorainen as well as working with Leadell and other business law firms.

Ina has a Master of Law from Vilnius University (commercial law) and is a member of the Bar Association of Lithuania.

Gediminas Varnas is the Legal and Compliance Officer at Nasdaq Baltic business unit.  In addition to his relevant duties and position of a Member of the Management Board at Nasdaq Vilnius AB (stock exchange), he works with Nasdaq CSD SE (CSD) and Nasdaq Vilnius Services UAB (competence center).

Providing legal support to Nasdaq group entities since 2005, Gediminas holds legal and compliance responsibilities, which include corporate governance matters.

Gediminas graduated from the University of Konstanz (Germany) in 2004 with a Master’s degree in Law. He has been teaching various business law subjects to students at the Business School of Vilnius University since 2006.

Povilas Žukauskas is a Partner at Walless (Lithuania), one of the leading B2B law firms in the Baltic region.

He has over 15 years of experience representing private entities and persons in connection with mergers and acquisitions, shareholders‘ relations and shareholders‘ disputes, general corporate matters, corporate governance issues, restructuring and insolvency cases.

Povilas is a member of the Lithuanian Bar Association since 2012 and a member of the Association of Financial Analysts (Lithuania; FAA) since 2020.

Povilas graduated from Mykolas Romeris University (Master of Law 2008) and received Master of Business Administration at Baltic Management Institute (BMI) in 2018.

Rytis Ambrazevičius has 20 years of experience in top level positions at various international and local companies, including  Omnitel (now Telia Lietuva, part of the Telia group), Mandatum Life Baltics, Sampo Life (Lithuania), Falck Security (now G4S) and SBA Group.

During the last decade, he held different positions in the boards of directors at numerous businesses, including Sampo group companies and such Lithuanian state-controlled companies as Klaipėdos nafta and EPSO-G. Currently, he is serving on the board of Vilniaus vandenys, the largest water supply company in Lithuania.

Rytis graduated with honours from Kaunas Technology University (Mechanical engineering), from International Business School at Vilnius University (BSc Management and Business Administration and MBA International trade). He also graduated from the BICG in 2012 (board member certificate) and in 2013 (chairperson’s certificate).

Andris Grafs is experienced in various corporate governance matters, especially from the shareholder perspective in state owned enterprises (SOEs). He has also acted in several leading positions in public policy institutions and non-profits, thus obtaining practical experience and competences in strategic planning, management, public communication and advocacy at a senior level.

For almost five years, he was a senior project manager at the Latvian Privatisation Agency (LPA), ensuring partnership with companies owned by the LPA, including Citadele Bank and Reverta. Andris has been directly involved in implementing the Citadele Bank sale transaction in 2014 and 2015. He is a co-author of the Latvian Government concept of reforms on governance of SOEs and has also participated in the OECD Working Party on State Ownership and Privatisation Practices in the years from 2011 to 2014.

Andris graduated from Riga Stradiņš University with a Master’s degree in Strategic and PR Management in 2011. He has also participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program on Transparency and Accountability, organized by the United States Department of State.

Erik Sakkov has 25 years of experience working in top management positions in Estonian companies, including Union Bank of Estonia (now SEB), Port of Tallinn, NT Marine, Tallinn Airport and Nordica.

As a volunteer, he acts as an Honorary Consul of Belgium in Estonia and chairs the Supervisory Board of the cancer treatment foundation The Gift of Life.

He graduated the Estonian Business School with an Executive MBA degree in 2003.