Banks, Financial Services, Latvia

Belavskis has been running Citadele Bank since 2012.

As from March 2, 2020, Johan Akerblom, currently CFO of Citadele Bank, has been appointed acting Chairman of the Management Board. Mennika noted that it has been agreed Belavskis will be supporting the bank during a transitional period until June 1, 2020.

Belavskis said in a statement that he has decided to "spend more time in developing exciting entrepreneurship opportunities related to several new businesses, this is a chance to use my knowledge in a new way, which was my aspiration for some time". 

He also notes that under his leadership, "Citadele has gone through a complete turnaround from failing bank with high risk business into completely modern, strong Baltic bank, serving local businesses and individuals". 

"2019 is best financial year since Citadele's inception. Best customer service, highest customer loyalty for banking business, highest ranked mobile app, all this and more will make it a very exciting for me to observe bright future of the Bank as a loyal customer and ambassador. I hand over to a team of experienced executives, who, under guidance from amazing and reputable shareholders, are eager to take it to Baltic and Beyond Champion's title," Belavskis said in the statement.

For his part, Akerblom said in a statement that the "Bank and the Management team thanks Guntis for many years of leadership and close collaboration and we are confident in a continued positive development of the Bank. We also feel that the transition will be smooth and that Guntis will continue to be part of the Citadele family as a loyal customer and ambassador".

At the end of September 2019, Citadele was the fourth largest bank in Latvia by assets. Citadele Bank has its headquarters in Latvia with branches in Lithuania and Estonia, as well as a subsidiary bank in Switzerland.