Egils Helmanis (born 30 December 1971) is a Latvian politician, businessman and close combat instructor. Since 2017, he is the Chairman of the Council of Ogre Municipality. He has been embroiled in various controversies.
Before entering politics, Helmanis was a businessman and military-style martial arts instructor.
Political activities
Helmanis joined the nationalist All for Latvia! party in 2008. He was elected to the Council of Ogre Municipality in 2009 from the common All for Latvia!/Civic Union list, becoming Deputy Chairman in 2011. After spending some time in opposition, Helmanis became the Chairman on 16 June 2017 after the 2017 municipal elections, being re-elected in 2021 and 2025.[1]
In July 2025, Helmanis was injured in a Russian drone strike in Ukraine, where he was on an official visit to provide aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[2]
Controversies
In 2009, Helmanis was charged with being part of an extortion racket and was convicted in April 2018, which was then appealed. Helmanis stated throughout that being charged with extortion would not interfere with his duties on the Ogre Municipality Council.[1]
In 2016, Helmanis admitted that he had trained members of the right-wing anti-immigrant vigilante groupTēvijas Sargi (Fatherland Guards).[3]
Before the 2017 municipal elections, Helmanis demanded before that local journalists sign a document agreeing not to pry into his private life.[1]
In early 2018 Helmanis was in conflict with Latvian Radio journalist Edgars Kupčs, who in an investigative report uncovered highly questionable practices in a tender for Ogre municipal vehicles that seemed to rule out everything but high-line luxury models with a lengthy range of optional extras. Helmanis demanded the story be retracted from both LR and LSM, which was refused.
On 21 August 2019, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau detained Helmanis over suspected misappropriation of municipal funds,[1][4] but the criminal process was later terminated due to lack of evidence.[5]
In late 2023, Helmanis was criticized for inviting sanctioned Russian oligarch Petr Aven to organize a porcelain exhibition at the Ogre History and Art Museum amid museum employee allegations of pressure and threats, culminating in a Helmanis-ordered sealing of the museum director's office and firing of the head staff of the museum. A protest was organized in front of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development on April 20, in which protesters demanded the sacking of Helmanis and the council, which is among the powers of the ministry.[6]
In December 2024, the Latvian OmbudsmanJuris Jansons announced that violations of political neutrality and misinformation were found in the Independence Day greetings of Egils Helmanis to the local residents in the municipal newsletter Savietis. The greeting espoused anti-civil unions overtones, stating that: "At a time when we should be fighting for a mood of masculinity and militancy in the nation, we have a government fighting for the right of two men to marry. (..) Look for the Kangars [fictional character] in the Latvian people".[7]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
