Dana Reizniece-Ozola (born November 6, 1981) is a Latvian chess player and politician. She is the current managing director of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) since 2021. She also served as

minister of Economics A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

(2014–2016) and

minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(2016–2019) of the Republic of Latvia. Reizniece-Ozola has been elected as a member of the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Saeima of the Republic of Latvia and worked as the chairperson of the Commission on Education, Culture and Science, Member of the Legal Affairs Commission and Member of the European Affairs Commission. In chess, Reizniece-Ozola was awarded the title of

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

by FIDE in 2001.

Biography

From 2006 to 2014, Reizniece-Ozola was Advisor to the Board, Board Member and Head of

Ventspils Ventspils (; german: Windau, ; see other names) is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It ...

High Technology Park. Before that, she was the Board Member of a research centre and industrial investment company. She has also worked at Ventspils City Council as the Head of the Investment Division. Dana Reizniece-Ozola has studied International Business at Häme Polytechnic University of Applied Sciences ( HAMK),

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

; law at the College of Law and linguistics at Ventspils University College in Latvia. She obtained a Professional master's degree in Translation and Terminology from Ventspils University College in Latvia and an Executive master's degree of Business Administration from the

International Space University The International Space University (ISU) is dedicated to the discovery, research, and development of outer space and its applications for peaceful purposes, through international and multidisciplinary education and research programs. ISU was f ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. She has managed several projects related to satellite and space technologies, with the development the first Latvian satellite " Venta-1" at Ventspils High Technology Park being one of them.

Chess career

Reizniece-Ozola won the

Latvian Chess Championship The Latvian Chess Champsionship () is the annual national chess tournament of Latvia among men and women players, which was established in 1924. It is organized by the Latvian Chess Federation (), previously - Latvian Chess Union (). History ...

for women in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. In 1998 and 1999, she won the Girls Under 18 section of the European Youth Championships. In 2000, Reizniece-Ozola competed in the

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wh ...

, held in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

, India; she was eliminated in the first round after losing to

Nataša Bojković Nataša Bojković (born 3 September 1971) is a Serbian chess player, an International Master (IM) and a Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She won the Girls' World Junior Chess Championship in 1991. She won the Women's Yugoslav Chess Championship four ...

. In the 4th round of the

42nd Chess Olympiad The 42nd Chess Olympiad ( az, 42-ci Şahmat Olimpiadası; also known as the Baku Chess Olympiad), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough sometimes referred to as the "men's division", this ...

in 2016, Reizniece-Ozola defeated Women's World Chess Champion

Hou Yifan Hou Yifan ( ; born 27 February 1994) is a Chinese chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion and the second highest rated female player of all time.

. Reizniece-Ozola played for Latvia in the

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

: * In 1998, at first board in the

33rd Chess Olympiad The 33rd Chess Olympiad (, ''33-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada''; Kalmyk: 33-гче Шатрин олимпиад, ''33-gçe Şatrin olimpiad''), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, took place between September 26 and O ...

Elista Elista (russian: Элиста́, (common during the Soviet era) or (most common pronunciation used after 1992 and in Kalmykia itself);"Большой энциклопедический словарь", под ред. А. М. Прохорова. ...

(+6 −2 =5); * In 2000, at first board in the 34th Chess Olympiad in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

(+6 −2 =5); * In 2004, at first board in the 36th Chess Olympiad in Calvia (+6 −5 =0); * In 2006, at first board in the

37th Chess Olympiad The 37th Chess Olympiad ( it, Le 37° Olimpiadi degli scacchi), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as we ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

(+5 −2 =4); * In 2010, at first board in the

39th Chess Olympiad The 39th Chess Olympiad (russian: 39-я Шахматная олимпиада, ''39-ya Shakhmatnaya olimpiada''), organised by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of c ...

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk ( rus, Ха́нты-Манси́йск, Khánty-Mansíysk, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city and the administrative center of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug–Yugra, Russia. It stan ...

(+1 −6 =2); * In 2012, at first board in the

40th Chess Olympiad The 40th Chess Olympiad ( tr, 40. Satranç Olimpiyatı), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place in Is ...

(+6 -3 =1); * In 2014, at first board in the 41st Chess Olympiad in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

(+1 -5 =4); * In 2016, at first board in the

in Baku (+5 -3 =2). Dana Reizniece-Ozola played for Latvia in the Women's

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

: * In 1999, at first board in 3rd Women's European Team Chess Championship in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...

(+5 −4 =0); * In 2001, at first board in 4th Women's European Team Chess Championship in León (+1 −4 =2); * In 2011, at first board in 18th Women's European Team Chess Championship in

Porto Carras Porto Carras (Greek: Πόρτο Καρράς), known as Porto Carras Grand Resort, is one of northern Greece's largest and most famous hotels and holiday resorts. It is located on Sithonia, Chalkidiki peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. It is about 120 ...

(+4 −3 =2); * In 2015, at first board in 20th Women's European Team Chess Championship in Reykjavik (+2 −3 =4), * In 2019, at first board in the 22nd Women's European Team Chess Championship in

(+3, =2, -4).

Political career

Dana Reizniece-Ozola served as Minister of Finance from 2016 until 2019. She is a member of the

Union of Greens and Farmers The Union of Greens and Farmers ( lv, Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība, ZZS) is an agrarian political alliance in Latvia. It is made up of the Latvian Farmers' Union, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, and For Latvia and Ventspils. It is p ...

(ZZS) and a deputy of the 10th,11th and 12th Saeima (Latvian Parliament) and has worked as the Chairperson of the Commission on Education, Culture and Science, as a Member of the Legal Affairs Commission and as a Member of the European Affairs Commission. Within the ZZS alliance she is a member of the

Latvian Farmers' Union The Latvian Farmers' Union ( lv, Latvijas Zemnieku savienība, LZS) is an agrarian political party in Latvia. Initially formed in 1917 during the period of Latvian War of Independence, it was banned in 1934. It was re-established in 1990. It i ...

(previously –

For Latvia and Ventspils For Latvia and Ventspils ( lv, Latvijai un Ventspilij, LuV) is a regionalist political party in Latvia that mainly operates as a localist party in Ventspils. It is mostly known for its chairman, Aivars Lembergs, who has been mayor of Ventspils ...

). In November 2017, Reizniece-Ozola submitted her formal application for succeeding

Jeroen Dijsselbloem Jeroen René Victor Anton Dijsselbloem (; born 29 March 1966) is a Dutch politician and economist serving as Mayor of Eindhoven since 13 September 2022, succeeding John Jorritsma (VVD). A member of the Labour Party (PvdA), he has also been Ch ...

as the next chairman of the

Eurogroup The Eurogroup is the recognised collective term for the informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone—those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency. The group has 19 membe ...

. At the vote on December 4, she withdrew after the first round and

Mário Centeno Mário José Gomes de Freitas Centeno (born 9 December 1966) is a Portuguese economist, university professor, and politician. From 2015 to 2020, he was Minister of Finance of Portugal in the government cabinet of Prime Minister António Costa o ...

was eventually elected to the post.

Other activities

European Union organizations

* European Investment Bank (EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019) *

European Stability Mechanism The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is an intergovernmental organization located in Luxembourg City, which operates under public international law for all eurozone member states having ratified a special ESM intergovernmental treaty. It was ...

(ESM), Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)

International organizations

* European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019) *

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. These guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against ...

(MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Gr ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019) *

Nordic Investment Bank The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) is an international financial institution founded in 1975 by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). In 2005, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) also beca ...

(NIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019), Chairwoman of the Board of Governors (2018–2019) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2016–2019)Board of Governors

Personal life

Reizniece-Ozola is married to Andris Ozols, director of the

Investment and Development Agency of Latvia Established in 1993, The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, or LIAA in short, acts under the Ministry of Ministry of Economics of the Republic of Latvia. Kaspars Rožkalns has served as the director of the LIAA since 2020. Accordi ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reizniece-Ozola, Dana 1981 births Living people People from Kuldīga For Latvia and Ventspils politicians Latvian Farmers' Union politicians Ministers of Economics of Latvia Ministers of Finance of Latvia Deputies of the 10th Saeima Deputies of the 11th Saeima Deputies of the 12th Saeima Deputies of the 13th Saeima Chess woman grandmasters Latvian female chess players Women deputies of the Saeima Women government ministers of Latvia Female finance ministers 21st-century Latvian women politicians