Zoar Limited, a pharmaceutical company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, has issued a statement denying that Latvian Academy of Sciences (ANL) President Ivars Kalvins, academic Bayba Rivja, and associate professor Nina Linde have worked for, held positions in, or received remuneration from the company. The statement, signed by the company’s director Kanam Vishvanath, explains that the names of the three scientists were posted on Zoar Limited’s website on 12 June in connection with their participation in the opening ceremony of an artificial‑intelligence centre in Riga. According to the company, the purpose of the publication was to honour the guests at the event, not to indicate any leadership or advisory role within Zoar Limited. Zoar Limited acknowledged that the website posting could have given the impression of a formal affiliation between the scientists and the company. The statement also offers to provide further clarification and to submit relevant documents to competent authorities. The names of Kalvins, Rivja and Linde have recently appeared in public discussions about the granting of Latvian citizenship to Divya Vishvanath, the wife of Kanam Vishvanath. On 15 October, the Saeima adopted a law granting citizenship to Vishvanath on the basis of “special merits”; on 22 October a subsequent law was passed that annulled the earlier decision.
Article source: Business & the Baltics | Image credit: Business & the Baltics