On 3 September 2021, in an official ceremony in Riga Castle, the President of Latvia, Egils Levits, presented credentials to the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to Ukraine, Ilgvars Kļava.
Ilgvars Kļava began his diplomatic career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994 when he was posted as First Secretary to the Embassy of Latvia in Austria. Ilgvars Kļava has worked as Director of the Multilateral Relations Department, Director of the Security Policy Department, Under-Secretary of State, and the Head of the Bilateral Relations Directorate, as well as serving at the Latvian Embassy in Belgium and the Permanent Representation of Latvia to NATO.
Ilgvars Kļava has held the posts of the Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to the German Federal Republic, non-resident Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, the Ambassador of Latvia to Poland, and non-resident Ambassador to Romania and Bulgaria.
In this ambassadorial posting, Ilgvars Kļava is succeeding Juris Poikāns, who represented the interests of Latvia in Ukraine from 2015.
Next year, Latvia and Ukraine will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.