Mr. Valantis, born in 1977, has served as State Secretary at the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia since June 2020.

Before his appointment as State Secretary he worked in various senior positions at the Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia. Between 2007 and 2016 as Director of the Department of European Union Structural Funds he was directly responsible for the development and implementation of EU funds programs related to energy efficiency and entrepreneurship. In 2016 he was appointed as Deputy State Secretary for Housing and Construction and was involved in fundamental transformation of housing and construction environment in Latvia.

In addition, he was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Latvenergo AS from 2019 to 2020 and Member of the Board of the Latvian Guarantee Agency LLC (SIA „Latvijas Garantiju aģentūra”) in 2008.

Currently he is also Board Member of the Liepāja Special Economic Zone.

He holds an economist bachelor’s degree from Latvian Maritime Academy (2000) and
post-graduate degree in port management (International Maritime Transport Academy in Rotterdam). In 2002 he graduated Institute of Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp with distinction and holds a master’s degree in transport management. Mr. Valantis further developed his knowledge studying business management in Riga Technical University, as well as developing industrial park and industrial policy in Singapore through cooperation program.