His positions between 1960 and 1984 included the first secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol of the Latvian SSR, a secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol of the USSR, the First Secretary of the Riga City Committee of the Communist Party, and chairman of the KGB in Latvia.
Disse stillinger omfattede mellem 1960 og 1984 blandt andet generalsekretær for Lettiske SSRs Komsomols centralkomité, sekretær for Sovjetunionens Komsomols centralkomité, førstesekretær for Rigas kommunistiske partis bykomité samt formand for KGB i Lettiske SSR.