Editorial comment
Vesels.lv has received press statement of Latvia Medicines and Pharmacy Products Consumer Association demanding suspension of EUR 32 million in state funding to pharmaceutical firm AS Olpha (formerly Olainfarm), which has significantly expanded exports to Russia since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Equally alarming is that there are copies of documents that, if accurate, provide credible evidence of the possible involvement of AS AB CITY’s beneficial owner Andrejs Leibovičs, his lawyer Artūrs Spīguļis, beneficial owner Roberts Tavejevs, and their criminally convicted business associate Signe Baldere-Sildedze in serious offences, including large-scale tax evasion and fraud. To date, neither Leibovičs, Spīguļis, nor Tavejevs have contested the facts set out in these materials.
In our opinion continuous state support to company that is actively operating in Russia market with beneficiaries who has potential track record of tax evasion and other criminal activities can be damaging to the international reputation of the Government as the information spreads out to other Baltic States and beyond.
AS Olpha has not responded to our request for comments.
Medicines and Pharmacy Products Consumer Association demands suspension of EUR 32 million in state funding to pharmaceutical firm AS Olpha (formerly Olainfarm), which has significantly expanded exports to Russia since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Riga, 8 April 2026 — The Medicines and Pharmacy Products Consumer Association (ZAPPA) is calling on the Latvian government to immediately suspend all state support payments and subsidised projects involving AS Olpha (formerly AS Olainfarm) and companies within the AS AB CITY group, until such time as they fully cease exports to Russia and Belarus.
Four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, AS Olpha — one of Latvia’s largest exporters to the aggressor state — continues to operate in the Russian market while simultaneously receiving support from Latvian taxpayers.
EUR 32 Million in Taxpayer Funds Directed Toward a Company Dependent on Russian Exports
In 2023, AS Olainfarm concluded an agreement with the state-owned development finance institution ALTUM for investments exceeding EUR 32 million in the modernisation and expansion of its production facility. ZAPPA considers this situation unacceptable: Latvian taxpayer funds are being directed to a company whose operations depend to a significant extent on exports to Russia amid its ongoing war in Europe.
According to a Re:Baltica study (2024) based on customs declarations, AS Olainfarm exported goods to Russia totalling USD 100.455 million over two years of war. In 2023, export volumes grew by a further USD 5 million compared to 2022, indicating a deliberate expansion of the company’s presence in the Russian market rather than a withdrawal.
On 7 April 2026, Economics Minister Viktors Valainis publicly acknowledged that the list of companies continuing to trade with Russia and Belarus “has not changed significantly” and remains “largely the same companies” — four years after the invasion. ZAPPA regards this statement as an indictment of government inaction.
National Security Implications
AS Olpha’s core product portfolio — central nervous system preparations including Neuromidin, Noofen, and Adaptol — accounts for approximately 50% of total sales. ZAPPA notes that Latvian society has the right to know the extent to which these preparations are reaching Russia and their actual end recipients under wartime conditions.
The company’s Russian-registered subsidiary, Olainfarm Rus, was identified as a “silver sponsor” of a medical congress held in Moscow in November 2023, organised in part by the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University — whose rector signed a letter of support for Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine on 4 March 2022, together with 304 other heads of Russian higher education institutions.
Analysis by the Investors and Minority Shareholders Association has further indicated that Russian intelligence services and hybrid warfare specialists may demand concessions from AS Olpha’s owners in exchange for favourable treatment in drug registration matters. ZAPPA considers this a potential threat to Latvia’s national security.
The defence sector dimension was highlighted when state-owned LMT withdrew from the Latvian Security and Defence Industry Federation (LDAIF) in March 2024, citing reputational and confidentiality risks posed by participants operating in the Russian market. SIA “Tonus Elast” — one of the exporters in question — is, according to information available to ZAPPA, a wholly owned subsidiary of AS Olpha.
Opaque Financial Flows and Unresolved Legal Questions
ZAPPA has also raised concerns regarding the opacity of payment chains through which the AS AB CITY group receives funds for products sold in Russia, given Russia’s restrictions on financial transfers to the West and the widely documented risks of sanctions circumvention.
Materials distributed outside the courtroom where criminal proceedings related to the 2021 takeover of AS Olainfarm were being heard provide, if accurate, credible evidence of the possible involvement of AS AB CITY’s beneficial owner Andrejs Leibovičs, his lawyer Artūrs Spīguļis, beneficial owner Roberts Tavejevs, and their criminally convicted business associate Signe Baldere-Sildedze in serious offences, including large-scale tax evasion and fraud. To date, neither Leibovičs, Spīguļis, nor Tavejevs have contested the facts set out in these materials, despite lawyer Spīguļis having had them in his possession for a considerable period.
ZAPPA’s Five Demands to the Government
ZAPPA has addressed the following specific demands to the government of Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Economics Minister Viktors Valainis:
- Immediately suspend all ALTUM and other state institution support payments and subsidised projects involving AS Olainfarm and companies within the AS AB CITY group.
- Instruct the Financial Intelligence Unit (FID) to conduct a comprehensive audit of AS Olainfarm’s and AS AB CITY’s financial transactions with Russia and Belarus, with particular attention to the routing of financial flows from Russia to Latvia.
- Instruct the State Security Service (VDD) to assess whether AS Olainfarm’s dependence on the Russian market and on the goodwill of Russian authorities poses national security risks.
- Publish an up-to-date, comprehensive, and regularly updated list of companies trading with Russia and Belarus, ensuring it is publicly accessible.
- Set a legally binding deadline by which AS Olainfarm must fully cease exports to Russia and Belarus as a mandatory condition for receiving any state funds.
Russia or Latvia — Not Both
ZAPPA has emphasised that this is not a campaign against pharmaceutical exports as such. The issue is one of principle: whether it is permissible for the Latvian state to use taxpayer funds to subsidise companies whose wartime activities are closely tied to the aggressor in ways that threaten national security.
“If AS Olpha wishes to receive Latvian state support, it must make a choice: Russia or Latvia. Both sides simultaneously — no longer.”
The question directed at the government of Evika Siliņa and Economics Minister Viktors Valainis remains: is it truly appropriate for Latvian state funds to be used to subsidise companies that export to Russia on a significant scale and whose beneficial owners carry such a contentious reputation?
SOURCES
• Re:Baltica, 2024: Latvia’s Largest Exporters to Russia (customs declaration data)
• Jauns.lv, 28.03.2024: “Olainfarm subsidiary in Russia sponsors events featuring war supporters”
• LSM.lv, 04.09.2023: “The war and Latvia’s pharmaceutical sector”
• Vesels.lv, 24.11.2023: “Are Olainfarm and Andrejs Leibovičs a threat to Latvia’s security?”
• Ministry of Economics: List of companies that exported goods to Russia in June 2024
• LTV “De facto”/LSM.lv, 17.03.2024: “LMT leaves the Security and Defence Industry Federation”
• TVNet, 07.04.2026: Economics Minister Valainis — the list of companies trading with Russia has not changed significantly
• ZAPPA press release, 08.04.2026
