9 July 1949 Riga, Soviet Union
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Latvian businessman and politician
Māris Gailis (born 9 July 1951 in Riga) is a Latvian businessman and former politician. He is the former Prime Minister of Latvia, an office he held from September 1994 to December 1995. In the government of the Prime Minister Valdis Birkavs, Gailis became a Minister of State Reform; in the government of the Prime Minister Andris Šķēle, he was the Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. As a member of the right-wing liberal political party Latvian Way, he was elected in the 5th Saeima and 6th Saeima. He led a round-the-globe expedition on the yacht Milda from 2001 to 2003.