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Valērijs Belokoņs

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Valērijs Belokoņs
Valērijs Belokoņs at Bloomfield Road
Born
Valērijs Belokoņs

(1960-02-14) 14 February 1960 (age 64)
Riga, Latvia
NationalityLatvian
OccupationBusinessperson
Known forFounder of Baltic International Bank

Valērijs Belokoņs (born 14 February 1960) is a Latvian businessman and a shareholder in the Baltic International Bank. Since June 2010, he has been a Trustee of The Prince's Foundation for Built Environment.

Business career

Born in Riga, in the former Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Belokoņs studied at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the United States and the University of Latvia, Faculty of Philology.[1]

He is the chairperson of the council of the Baltic International Bank, and his corporation Belokoņs Holdings has interests in finance, media, the Food industry and social projects in Latvia and Kyrgyzstan as well as football in England. These include[2]

  • Finance and investments
    • Baltic International Bank – founded in 1993, servicing VIP customers. Position - Founder, Main Shareholder and Chairman of Council. Representative offices basen in London, Moscow and Kiev
    • Manas Bank – founded in 2008 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
    • Since 2007- JSC Investment Management Company Global Fondi - co-founded by ex Prime Minister of Latvia, The former Chairman of National Bank of Latvia - Einars Repše
    • Since 2009 - JSC Hercogiste - company's aim is to develop sustainable projects in Latvia
  • Food industry
    • JSC Brīvais Vilnis (Established in 1949) – One of the biggest and most developed fish-processing enterprise in Latvia
  • Media
    • Otkritij Gorod – a monthly magazine in Baltic countries
    • Novo News – a daily Internet newspaper
    • Since 1995 - Valērijs Belokoņs's Publishing House Ltd – became popular with the National encyclopaedia Latvijas Enciklopēdija and annual edition Who's Who in Latvia
  • Social Projects
    • Baltic Institute of Strategic Studies – a non-profit scientific research organization founded in 2004.
    • Riga Golf School – Founded in 2003 - charity project - first sport school of golf in Latvia that serves as basics for young generation to be introduced to golf culture.[citation needed]

In June 2008, Belokoņs sold his 30% stake in the Latvian television station TV5 to the News Corporation owned by Rupert Murdoch.[3]

Blackpool F.C.

Through Belokoņs Holdings and VB Football Assets,[4] Belokon bought a 20% stake in Blackpool Football Club in 2006, and is the club's president.[5] In June 2007 he stated that he was prepared to increase his stake in Blackpool from 20% to 50% following the clubs promotion to The Championship.[6]

On 8 July 2008, Belokoņs announced that he and Owen Oyston, the majority share-holder of the club, would be personally financing the construction of the new South Stand and South-west corner at Bloomfield Road, with work to start immediately.[7]

On 31 July 2009, it was announced that Belokoņs was setting up a new transfer fund for Blackpool, into which he was adding a "considerable amount" on 5 August in order to invest in new players identified by team manager Ian Holloway.[8]

On 22 May 2010, Blackpool F.C. were promoted to the top tier of English football, the Premier League, one year sooner than Belokoņs had predicted when joining the club in 2006.

In September 2015, Belokoņs initiated legal action against the Oystons, alleging improper use of club funds.[9]

In August 2017, Belokoņs resigned as director of Blackpool Football Club.[10] In November 2017 a court determined that Owen Oyston and his son had abused their majority shareholding position at the club in a manner that was detrimental both to the business and Belokons himself. They were ordered to pay £31 million to buy out Belokons' share of the business. Club supporters were hopeful that the amount set by the court was so high that the Oyston family would be forced instead to sell their interest.[11]

Personal life

Belokoņs has three children.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Exclusive interview with Valeri Belokon". 24 Kg News Agency. 13 October 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  2. ^ "Our Businesses". Belokon Holdings. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  3. ^ Kolyako, Nina (2 June 2008). "Murdoch takes over Latvian TV5". The Baltic Course magazine. Retrieved 8 September 2008. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "VB Football Assets". Belokon Holdings. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
  5. ^ Canavan, Steve (19 May 2006). "The president of blackpool". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
  6. ^ Stocks, Rob (12 June 2007). "Belokon to increase stake?". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
  7. ^ "Official Club Statement". Blackpool F.C. 8 July 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Club Statement". Blackpool F.C. 31 July 2009. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-34268761
  10. ^ Valeri Belokon: Blackpool club president resigns as director of club. BBC SPORT. Published 23 August 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Valeri Belokon wins Blackpool FC court battle with Oystons". BBC News. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

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