On April 1, the international day for jokes, a very serious hockey tournament was held at the Central Ice Palace of Moscow. Teams were made up of foreign diplomats. The tournament, symbolically known as the «Small World Ice-Hockey Championship 2006», was organised by the Latvian embassy in Russia with support from Aizkraukles Banka. The fact is that the real World Ice-Hockey Championship will be held in Riga this year, and this was something of a «mini-rehearsal» for the big event.

From April 3 of this year, Aizkraukles Banka, thinking about its clients, is extending the opening hours of two of its credit centres — «Marija» and «Elizabete». The two credit centres will now be open for one hour longer each day than was the case before. The bank’s aim is to improve the quality of client services and to respect the interests of its clients. The «Elizabete» credit centre at Elizabetes Street 21A and the «Marija» credit centre at Marijas Street 13 will now be open from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM.

Aizkraukles Banka Expands Range of Services

At a general meeting of the shareholders of the stock company «Aizkraukles Banka» on March 29, the bank’s consolidated 2005 report was approved, and decisions were taken on the distribution of last year’s profits.

Earned profit of the Aizkraukles Banka for the first two months of 2006 reached LVL 3.388 million. This is 54% more than during the same period of 2005.

2005 Financial Audit Completed

The television programme «Housing Issue» is broadcast on Latvian Independent Television and has attracted a great deal of attention, so production work on the show is continuing. Since December 5, anyone has been able to ask to appear on the show, which «transforms» people’s homes. The application form can be found on the Aizkraukle Banka homepage, and 21 lucky families will be chosen to take part. Professional specialists will help to transform their homes completely.

On December 26, TV3 broadcast the «Pride of Latvia» ceremony, at which Golden Apple Tree statuettes were received by 10 individuals who had been selected by a special jury. The next day, the newspaper Diena published a special supplement to report on the stories of the award recipients. The paper also listed all of the nominees for the «Pride of Latvia» award.

With the help of an international council of experts, the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art (LMM) has selected the first four artworks which will become a part of the museum’s collection. The purchase of the art is to be financed by Aizkraukles Banka, which is a leading supporter of the collection. The museum has also received its first gift of artworks.

Under the auspices of a project called «Personalities in Latvian Democracy», a book, «Personality and Democracy: A Methodological Resource for Latvian History», has been published in Latvian. It contains descriptions of key people in the establishment of democracy, tolerance and the rule of law in Latvia. The book is meant to be an educational resource during history, civil studies and other lessons, and it will be presented as a gift to all schools in Latvia.