Quick Facts
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Ignas Staškevičius is a Lithuanian business man, author and doctor. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the company "VP Group" (later renamed "Maxima Group"), of which he is a partial stock-owner. Ignas is also the founder of the publishing house and bookstore chain "Sofoklis". He is the author of four books and the translator of one ("Cleaning the Mind", by Geshe Jampa Tinley from Russian into Lithuanian, published in 2010).
Biography
Early life
Ignas was born in Vilnius on the 7th of May, 1970. His mother, Dalia Dilytė, is a writer and professor of Greek and Roman history, his father - a mathematician. Ignas developed an interest in basketball at a young age, competing in regional tournaments with his high school team. He graduated from the Vilniaus Baltupių School with an award for academic excellence in 1988. He went on to graduate from the Medical Department of Vilnius University and later studied law.
Business
Ignas, along with several of his business partners (one of whom was Nerijus Numavičius), bought a food and alcohol store in Vilnius. After months of work there, the partners founded the private company VP Group. In 2005, he was appointed head manager of Euro-Vaistinė, a drugstore chain run by the conglomerate. Since 2008 he is an adviser and non-executive Board's member in several firms, including VP and NDX UAB, an investment and holding company, active in the energy and FMCG production businesses.
Writing
Ignas's travel memoir, Kelias į bazę, was published in 2006. He continued to write about running and travel in 2011's Maratono laukas. Ignas authored a satirical novel, titled Domertas, which came out in 2013. Ignas's fourth book, Tapatybės kortelė, is a collection of essays and short stories. It was published in 2016.
Other Ventures
In 2010, Ignas collaborated with the Latvian director Maris Martinsons, as a producer of the film Amaya. He is credited as being one of the founders of the annual Vilnius Marathon. In 2013 the Lithuanian Sports University granted him an honorary degree, in recognition of his services as president of the university's National Health Institute.