Rivža denies ties to Cayman Islands pharmaceutical company

Latvian Academy of Sciences Secretary-General Baiba Rivža has denied holding an official position or having contractual ties with Zoar Limited, a pharmaceutical company registered in the Cayman Islands, LSM reported.

The company’s website listed Rivža and academy president Ivars Kalviņš on its advisory board as recently as late October. The listing has since disappeared, the LETA news agency observed.

Rivža told LETA she had not known about the company. She cited an explanation from its director and founder, Kanan Vishvanath, that the names were added in connection with the opening of an artificial intelligence centre in Riga on June 12. The company said they were included to honour the two officials’ attendance, not to indicate that they held positions there.

A statement issued on the company’s behalf acknowledged that the website’s design may have created a misleading impression of Rivža’s and Kalviņš’s connection to the company. It said neither had a contractual relationship with Zoar Limited or received payment from it.

The State Revenue Service is checking the declarations of Rivža and Kalviņš amid suspicions of links to Vishvanath, a Latvian citizen since 2023. He is married to Indian citizen Divya Kanan Vishvanath. Latvia’s parliament approved granting her citizenship in an expedited procedure on October 15. Social media posts later alleged that the scientist may have provided false information about herself.