NATO-Russia border security scandal: Politician Sergejs Maksimovs and jailed drug smuggler Aivars Kairiss exposed in EU frontier syndicate

As the state strengthens its eastern border, reports suggest a borderland clan may be profiting from large sums of money and engaging in drug smuggling.

While the state allocates unprecedented millions for the expansion and security of Latvia’s eastern border, a family syndicate seems to have formed in the borderland Balvi Municipality, where administrative resources and cross-border crime have merged into one. This points to markers of deep nepotism and a direct threat to national security in a strategic border region, as Balvi Municipality directly borders the Russian Federation.

Sergejs Maksimovs, a member of the European Committee of the Regions and a deputy of the Balvi Duma, did not find the time to answer questions from Kompromat.lv within 24 hours.

As Kompromat.lv has learned, a prominent local businessman, owner of the transport and logging company SIA "AVK Group" Aivars Kairišs, his son Rolands, and his daughter Karīna have been in custody for about two months. According to available data, the core of the family was detained by law enforcement agencies directly at the Latvian-Russian border as part of a criminal process involving large-scale drug smuggling.

This crime thriller unfolded within an extensive network of nepotism that entangled the region’s top officials.

Family Business in the Border Zone

Rolands Kairišs, the son of the detained businessman, is in a close relationship with Terēze Maksimova—the daughter of the influential Latgalian politician Sergejs Maksimovs.

Rolands Kairišs openly states on his Facebook profile: "In a relationship with Terēze Maksimova." This links him directly to the family of the former mayor of Balvi, Sergejs Maksimovs, with Terēze registered as his daughter in his official public official’s declaration. The declaration also notes that Rolands has been working for his father’s company, SIA "AVK Group," since September 29, 2020. Furthermore, the young man writes that he studied at the State Border Guard College (Valsts robežsardzes koledža).

Nepotism

Official registry data confirms the most cynical part of this borderland scheme. The legal and actual address of "AVK Group" is Priedulāji, Priedes, Lazdulejas pag., Balvu nov. The firm is registered and operates specifically in Lazduleja Parish.

As confirmed by official municipal publications (specifically from November 2024), the head of the service centers (administrations) for two parishes simultaneously—Lazduleja and Vectilža—is Tatjana Kairiša, Rolands’ mother and the wife of the firm’s owner, Aivars Kairišs.

November 2024 marks the period when Balvi Municipality was led by Sergejs Maksimovs as chairman of the duma. This means that Tatjana Kairiša received administrative control over two of the municipality’s parishes from the hands of Maksimovs’ political team.

In the following year, 2025, the loop closed: Maksimovs himself officially joined the board of his wife’s construction firm, which began tapping into borderland budgets. Meanwhile, another relative—the ex-mayor’s wife, Žanna Maksimova—heads the Rekava Secondary School.

The "Golden" Firm of Ex-Mayor Sergejs Maksimovs’ Wife

Sergejs Maksimovs is a monumental figure for the region. He is not just a deputy and the ex-chairman of the Balvi Municipality Duma. He also holds the positions of:

Chairman of the Board of the Latgale Planning Region (Latgales plānošanas reģions - Padomes priekšsēdētājs)—the body that distributes European and state funding for the development of the entire borderland Latgale region.

Board Member of the Ministry of Transport (Satiksmes ministrija - Padomes loceklis). This is a critical connection: the ministry controls state roads and infrastructure. The arrangement and reinforcement of the border directly require the construction of access roads, logging, and transport logistics.

Board Member of the "Latgale Party" (Latgales partija) and Latvia’s representative to the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels, where he has served for 11 years.

During the period when the state began pouring millions into the eastern border, the "dormant" construction firm SIA "BALTIC PRESENTS," 100% owned by the politician’s wife Žanna Maksimova, suddenly showed explosive growth.

The company’s legal address is Balvu nov., Šķilbēnu pag., Šķilbani (Darbnīcu 5). This is a restricted border zone, which fully aligns with the location of the alleged works. According to Crediweb.lv data, from 2021 to 2023, the company carried out virtually no economic activity. However, in 2024, the enterprise’s turnover skyrocketed by 63,072%, exceeding 435,000 EUR.

Sergejs Maksimovs himself officially joined the board of his wife’s company on September 18, 2025, gaining sole representation rights, thereby successfully combining commercial income with political activity. Coincidentally, the firm is precisely engaged in works within the border zone where, according to available information, the logging equipment of Kairišs—who was detained for drugs—was also utilized on subcontracts.

Neither the head of the two local parishes, Tatjana Kairiša, nor deputy Sergejs Maksimovs had responded to direct questions from Kompromat.lv by the time of publication.

From Cigarette Smuggling to Drugs: The Criminal Background

For Aivars Kairišs, the current arrest at the border is far from his first borderland incident. Kompromat.lv reviewed the legally binding judgment of the Senate of the Supreme Court in criminal case No. 11816000810.

According to the case materials, as early as January 7, 2010, around 7:00 AM, police raided a major smuggling transit base on the property of Aivars Kairišs in Balvi Municipality. Accomplices were in the middle of loading 500,000 "More" cigarettes bearing Russian Federation excise stamps into a Mercedes-Benz minibus. The group was detained just as the contraband cargo, accompanied by an Audi A8, attempted to leave the property.

In total, 1,240,000 cigarettes (More, Leningrad, Jin Ling, Saint George, Prima Nevo) worth 89,760 lats were discovered in Kairišs’ warehouse at the time. After passing through all judicial instances, in 2013, the appellate court reduced the sentence for the trio of smugglers to 100 hours of community service, reclassifying the case as an "attempted" offense, while the amount of damages recovered in favor of the state for Kairišs amounted to 8,005 lats.

Years later, the scale and appetite of these borderland dealers seem to have changed drastically: the family operation has shifted from illegal Russian cigarettes to heavy narcotic substances under the cover of strategic government contracts and high-ranking relatives.