Gundars Bērziņš thwarts the election of a member of the board of JSC Olainfarm
On Thursday, at the meeting of the Supervisory Council of JSC Olainfarm, one of the issues on the agenda was the election of a capable member of the Board, which was not fulfilled. Gundars Bērziņš, the Chairman of the Supervisory Council, voted against the nominated Jānis Leimanis as the decisive vote.
From the information received about the course and development of the meeting, it can be concluded that G. Bērziņš's vote happened under the influence of Kārlis Krastiņš, a member of the Supervisory Council of Olainfarm and a managing partner and Chairman of the Board of the investment company Prudentia.
Two weeks ago, two council members - Andrejs Saveļjevs and Jānis Buks - proposed to appoint J. Leimanis to the Board. He is an auditor, experienced in managing large companies, with experience working in listed companies.
On May 18, Zane Kotāne, Olainfarm's Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Board, resigned and on May 19 she left the company. The company was left without a CFO and a responsible board member. This was also announced on the stock exchange. According to Olainfarm's articles of association, board members can only be appointed by the Supervisory Council. It consists of five members. The majority of shareholders called for the immediate appointment of Jānis Leimanis as a Member of the Board in order to ensure the continuity of Olainfarm's business, as such a large company needs a CFO on a daily basis.
Also last Wednesday, the shareholders requested that the Chairman of the Supervisory Council G. Bērziņš ensure that Haralds Velmers and K. Krastiņš do not participate in the meetings of the Supervisory Council, as they both have a conflict of interest. Both represent Czech nationals who want to acquire a controlling stake in Olainfarm and not the company's existing shareholders. It has already been mentioned publicly that this action by Czech citizens qualifies as fraud committed by a group of persons. According to the rules of procedure of the Council, those involved in a conflict of interest may not participate in the voting. Instead of not participating in the council meeting, last Wednesday both tried to appoint their protégé candidates to the Olainfarm board - former AB.LV bank employee, Chairman of the council of Vaiņode pig farm holding company and working in the management of other companies Agris Grīnbergs and founder of the news agency BNS Gints Vīns. This was also contrary to the rules of procedure, as the items on the agenda must be disclosed one week before the Council meeting. At the moment, H. Velmers and K. Krastiņš are trying to push the representatives of Czech citizens into the Board, not to defend the interests of the existing shareholders. Both H. Velmers and K. Krastiņš are currently acting in the interests of the Czech representatives who tried to take over the controlling stake in the company through adverse takeover methods. Currently, Gundars Bērziņš has emerged as an active supporter of them. The trio - Bērziņš, Velmers and Krastiņš - already sabotaged the council meeting on May 13, by deciding not to attend it and thus breaking the quorum. This prevented Jānis Leimanis, who the shareholders supported as a member of the Board, from being appointed to the Board in time to take over. Obviously, Gundars Bērziņš currently works only in his personal interests and does not act in the interests of Olainfarm. It is not clear whether such actions of Bērziņš, acting against the interests of Olainfarm shareholders, will affect his career in the academic environment, where reputation is of great importance.
As it is known, the shareholders have also received information that H. Velmers and K. Krastiņš had flown abroad only a few days before the large-scale attempt to commit fraud, on April 22, to possibly meet with the Czech citizens who were later detained at the Riga Airport on April 30 in connection with possible involvement in the fraud case.
Currently, the shareholders have addressed G. Bērziņš with a call to prevent H. Velmers and K. Krastiņš from further participating in the work of the Supervisory Council, and with a call to ensure that their resignation is achieved.
The Board of Olainfarm will also convene a shareholders' meeting on June 17 this year, when it is planned to hold elections for select members of the Supervisory Council of Olainfarm in connection with the loss of trust from the majority of shareholders. As previously reported, the shareholders, who were previously at odds after the death of Valērijs Maligins, have decided to choose a common representative and want to jointly manage the company in the future, rather than involving those who have lost the trust of shareholders.
