The General Assembly of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has unanimously elected Ansis Zeltiņš, the Freeport of Riga CEO, as the new ESPO Chair at its annual meeting.
He will hold this position in ESPO until 2026. Prior to that, Ansis Zeltiņš has been Vice-Chair of ESPO since 2022.
At the same time, the General Assembly elected Gerardo Landaluce Calleja, President of the Port Authority of Algeciras Bay (Spain) and Cédric Virciglio, Strategic Planning Director at the Haropa Port (France) as ESPO Vice-Chairs.
Ansis Zeltiņš has been the Freeport of Riga Port CEO since 2017 and has been working in the maritime industry for more than 25 years.
During this time, he has represented the country in various international maritime fora, such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), was a member of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) Board and head of the Council of Europe Shipping Working Group.
The Freeport of Riga Authority has been active in ESPO since 1998, when it was the first Latvian port to be admitted as an associate member of ESPO. Since 2004 and Latvia’s accession to the European Union, the Freeport of Riga Authority has been a full member of ESPO.
Speaking to the General Assembly upon his election, Ansis Zeltiņš said: “I am truly honoured to lead ESPO – the most professional and strongest team in the industry.
“Working together, we have proved our strength, competence, unity and ever-present spirit of partnership. Together with the ESPO team, we will continue to reinforce these values to support all European ports and build a sustainable yet highly competitive European port cluster.
“I would like to express my gratitude to all European port colleagues and the fantastic ESPO Secretariat team for their support.”
Earlier this September, the Freeport of Riga Authority and the Lithuanian company SNG Solar signed an agreement on the lease of land in the Port of Riga in the Spilve Meadows area for the development of a solar energy park.