website children birth_place party birth_date term_start order image article_title occupation alma_mater
-lsb- http://www.aivarslembergs.lv/ www.aivarslembergs.lv -rsb- anrijs liga jēkabpils , latvian soviet socialist republic , ussr communist party of the soviet union 26 september 1953 1988 mayor of ventspils aivars_lembergs_2012 . jpg aivars lembergs
 politician university of latvia
aivars lembergs

aivars lembergs -lrb- born september 26 , 1953 -rrb- is a latvian politician and businessman , who has been the mayor of ventspils since 1988 .
since 2008 he has faced a long-running investigation for bribery , money laundering and abuse of office ; he vehemently denies all wrongdoing .
lembergs was born in jēkabpils , latvia .
he studied economics in latvian state university -lrb- now known as the university of latvia -rrb- , graduating in 1977 .
he then worked in various positions in the communist party of latvia , becoming mayor of ventspils in 1988 .
he stayed in this position after latvia became independent and has been re-elected five times .
lembergs was the leader of the local political party , `` latvijai un ventspilij '' -lrb- `` for latvia and ventspils '' -rrb- which he founded in 1994 .
`` latvijai un ventspilij '' has completely dominated the city politics since it was founded .
before the 2006 parliamentary election , lembergs ' party `` latvijai and ventspilij '' entered into an alliance with the union of greens and farmers and the union of greens and farmers named lembergs as its candidate for the prime minister of latvia .
he remains its leading figure and chief financial supporter .
he is one of the three `` oligarchs '' against which zatlers ' reform party has pledged to act if it achieves office .
