Turmoil continues at Ventbunkers

RIGA - Alvis Haze, board member of conflict-ridden Ventspils transit company Ventbunkers and close associate of Swiss lawyer Rudolf Meroni, was arrested in the evening of May 26, reports Nozare.lv. The arrest was carried out as Haze was meeting with security firm TM Security representative Mareks Varnelis in order to discuss “peaceful ways that this company could pull out of the premises of Ventbunkers in Ventspils.”

According to Haze’s press representatives, the police pounced on Haze the moment Varnelis “unexpectedly handed Haze an envelope with unknown contents, claiming that it contained documents.” The TM Security representative claimed to have written a notification, with “the slanderous claim that Haze had tried to extort money from TM Security.”
Haze’s representatives believe that the aim of this action could be an attempt to influence the expected Ventspils nafta (Ventspils Oil) shareholders meeting, held on June 1, at which it was planned to decide on changes to the company’s council. Haze is a candidate to become a member of the council and in doing so would replace the indirect client of TM Security, Olegs Stepanovs.

Ventbunkers has promised to submit a counterclaim to the police over the submission of wrongful information and slander. At the same time, Ventbunkers is calling for Interior Minister Linda Murniece (New Era) to carefully investigate recent events and the police’s role in these events, as the minister has already previously expressed interest in the police’s role in the ongoing conflict in the Ventspils transit business.

The mayor of Ventspils, Aivars Lembergs, and his family are still among the owners of the country’s largest transit companies: Ventbunkers and Latvijas Naftas transits, as was reported by Swiss lawyer Rudolf Meroni, who is among the board members of the largest Ventspils companies. The Lembergs family is said to own a 50 percent stake in the companies holding the controlling interest in Ventbunkers - Tomica International N.V. and its two subsidiary companies Yelverton Investment B.V. and Yelverton Investments B.V.

Meroni explains that the Lembergs family is represented in Latvijas Naftas tranzits through the company Global Oil Services Ltd., in which Lembergs has a 25 percent stake.
The Swiss lawyer also indicated that the effective beneficiaries of Ventbunkers at present are Igors Skoks, Genadijs Sevcovs, Olafs Berkis, Olegs Stepanovs, and the Lembergs family.

Meroni explains that his main objective is to prevent anyone from using dubious means to defraud the rightful earnings of Ventbunkers and other companies. “I hope that Mr. Lembergs has understood this and feels better that the company, though located in his zone of influence, is being managed transparently and fairly,” said the lawyer.