The newly added personae non gratae are Russian citizens Elena Ruzyak, Denis Pospelov, Oleg Belkov, Sergey Paster, Ivan Sadchikov, Tatyana Krivenko, Valery Fokin, Andrei Bolotov, Natalya Timakova, and Alexander Budberg.
Ruzyak's name appears in this investigation of sanctions evasion by Russian oligarchs, conducted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), as being the nominal owner of a luxury apartment in Rīga.
Ruzyak is also one of many on the list who were named in another investigation along similar lines by The Insider, an independent Russian media outlet, which identified Russian assets in Latvia.
Oleg Belkov is named as a shareholder in Latvia's Rietumu banka (Western bank), Sadchikov as the owner of a property at the exclusive Amatciems gated village near Cēsis and several others on the list own property in the resort town on Jūrmala. Others are figures close to the dictatorial Russian regime who have business interests in Latvia.
You can read the full investigation here.
The persons are banned from entering Latvia for an indefinite period.
The decision was taken in accordance with Section 61(2) of the Immigration Law.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that the decision to include a person on the list of undesirable persons for Latvia is taken in cooperation with the competent authorities, including the State Security Service, after assessing the facts brought to its attention.
"Latvia utterly condemns the aggression unleashed by Russia on Ukraine and its territorial integrity in 2014, as well as the unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, which has been under way for almost 1000 days. Every day, the war claims the lives of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers of the armed forces of Ukraine. Support for atrocities carried out by the Kremlin regime means co-responsibility for the crimes committed; therefore, the entry of such persons into Latvia cannot be permitted," the MFA explained.
