28 Facts About Kirovs Lipmans

Kirovs Lipmans served as president of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation from 1994 to 1995, and from 1998 to 2016; was a member of the Latvian Olympic Committee executive, and sat on International Ice Hockey Federation committees.

Kirovs Lipmans oversaw the increase of artificial ice hockey rinks in Latvia from three to seventeen, and the Latvia men's national team qualify for the top tier of the World Championships then play in four consecutive Olympic hockey tournaments.

Kirovs Lipmans oversaw the construction of a production facility and laboratories, and transitioned Grindeks into a global company that exported 90 per cent of its products.

Kirovs Lipmans was made an Officer of the Order of the Three Stars for contributions to Latvia, and received the Paul Loicq Award from the IIHF for contributions to international ice hockey.

Kirovs Lipmans was born on 5 November 1940 in Liepaja, Latvia, and has Jewish Latvian ancestry.

Kirovs Lipmans has stated that his maternal family has lived in Aizpute for more than 250 years, and that a distant relative on his father's side was a financial advisor of Ernst Johann von Biron, the Duke of Courland.

Kirovs Lipmans began school education in Liepaja, initially learning in the Latvian language.

Kirovs Lipmans graduated from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute in 1961, and the Leningrad Institute of Railway and Transport Engineering in 1975.

Kirovs Lipmans later stated in an interview to Santa magazine that just before enrolling in the Railway Institute, he was accepted into the Leningrad Circus School's clown course, but was forbidden to continue by his mother.

Kirovs Lipmans later worked for Valsts elektrotehniska fabrika as an economist, and as head of its computer base center.

Kirovs Lipmans later graduated from the University of Latvia with an engineer economist degree.

Kirovs Lipmans was president of Liepajas Metalurgs from 1996 to 2003, a metallurgy facility in Liepaja.

Kirovs Lipmans served as a deputy on the Liepaja City Council from 2000 to 2004, as a candidate of the Christian Democratic Union.

Kirovs Lipmans has been the chairman of the council of Grindeks since 2003, and served as chairman of the councils of JSC Kalceks and JSC Tallinn pharmaceutical facilities, and as chairman of the board of Liplat Holdings Limited.

Kirovs Lipmans transitioned Grindeks from having the majority of its sales in Commonwealth of Independent States countries, into a company with 90 per cent of its products exported and a presence in European, Asian and American markets.

Kirovs Lipmans served as president of the Latvian Ice Hockey Federation from 1994 to 1995, and from 1998 to 2016; and was a member of the Latvian Olympic Committee executive.

Kirovs Lipmans was appointed an advisor to International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel; and sat on the IIHF committees for strategy development, discipline and statutes.

Kirovs Lipmans was involved in operating professional hockey teams in Latvia, and served as president of HK Liepajas Metalurgs from 1996 to 2003.

Kirovs Lipmans was later a founding member of Dinamo Riga, and resigned from its council in 2008 to avoid a conflict of interest as the LHF president.

When Kirovs Lipmans began as LHF president, Latvia had only three artificial ice hockey rinks of which two met IIHF standards.

The LHF was awarded hosting duties for the 2006 IIHF World Championship, and Kirovs Lipmans oversaw the construction of Arena Riga for the event.

The Baltic Times reported that Kirovs Lipmans was to blame for the delays, and that he was asked to resign due to a conflict of interest with owning shares in the arena's management company.

Kirovs Lipmans was succeeded by Aigars Kalvitis as the LHF president in October 2016.

Kirovs Lipmans was recognized for his contributions to Latvia when made an Officer of the Order of the Three Stars in 2001, and was given the Sportsperson of the Year Award from the Latvian Sports Federation in 2006.

Kirovs Lipmans received the "Valetudo Patriae" from the Latvian Medical Association in 2017, in recognition of contributions to the development of medicines and health care.

Kirovs Lipmans received the Paul Loicq Award from the IIHF in 2018, in recognition of contributions to international ice hockey.

Kirovs Lipmans contributed financial support to the Liepaja Museum to host an exhibition about local Jewish people.

When his cousins in the United States and Canada asked him to leave Latvia during the political changes in the 1990s, Kirovs Lipmans expressed a desire to stay and stated, "No, I will stay in Latvia, because this is my country, and I will do my best to make this a good and rich country".