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The Institute for Ethics and Economic
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Bribery case raises
suspicions about bodyguards of top Latvian officials. It was reported that Zigurds Rubenis, a bodyguard
of Parliament Speaker Ingrida Udre was arrested on suspicion of being the
intermediary of a bribe. The recipient of the bribe, Girts Pilans, an
official of the physical checking section of the main customs department was
also detained. According to the report, the bribe of 4,000 US dollars (about
2,170 lats) was intended for Pilans to fix up documents concerning some
non-food items detained by customs. Officials have said that Rubenis had
undertaken to hand over the bribe by exploiting his official position and
assisting a businessman he knew. (BBC
Monitoring Service, NEW LATVIAN PM FORCES A CHANGE: Einars Repse, new Latvian prime minister, is eager to fight corruption in Latvian government and administration. He sees an uncorrupt government apparatus essential for economic reforms and growth.
Parliament
Approves New Gov’t. According
to reports, Latvia’s parliament gave its approval to a new government
headed by former Central Bank president Einars Repse, who vowed to stop
corruption in the ex-Soviet Baltic republic. Repse is a pro-business fiscal
conservative who pledged during his campaign to end corruption in the
pro-Western nation of 2.4 million people and to continue pushing for
membership in NATO and the European Union.
(Northern Light News, November
7, 2002, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). Latvian parliament
approves anti-corruption czar It
was reported that Latvia’s parliament has approved the government’s nominee
for anti-corruption czar. Guntis Rutkis was approved a day after the European
Commission recommended that Latvia be admitted to the EU, but warned it was
still concerned about the Baltic nation’s record in fighting corruption.(Ananova, October 10, 2002, summary by
Sherldine Tomlinson). LAW TO PREVENT CONFLICT OF INTEREST BY STATE OFFICIALS PASSED. The Saeima parliament has passed a corruption law. The law stipulates restrictions and bans on state officials, imposes the obligation to hand in income declarations in order to avert possible conflict of interest. The newly established Bureau to Prevent and Combat Corruption will control observation of the law. The new law stipulates restrictions on assuming several positions simultaneously, accepting gifts and donations, etc. (BBC Monitoring Service (LETA News Agency, Riga), April 25, 2002, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
QUESTIONABLE DONATIONS TO POLITICAL PARTIES A PROBLEM. In an article entitled "What is in the treasuries of the parties?" and published in the Latvian newspaper Diena on 19 March, Askolds Rodins discusses the problem of donations to Latvian political parties from private companies, where the latter are suspected of unlawful activities. A recent scandal involves the People's Party (TP), which has received a donation of 25,000 lats (40,000 dollars) from a company, which is owned by someone who is suspected of engaging in extensive smuggling of meat. Accoding to Askolds Rodins, the emerging Bureau to Prevent and Combat Corruption might become an institution of control. Nevertheless, politicians must award it "a status, which keeps them from influencing the bureau's decisions." Finally, mechanisms must be created, "which do not allow the authority of the bureau to be used maliciously." (BBC Monitoring Service, 20 March, 2002, summary by Pavlidis George).
NEW BRIBERY SCANDALS INVOLVING HIGH-PROFILE OFFICIALS EXPOSED. In the worst- ever blow to Government officials of Latvia shrouded over corruption charges, deputy chief of the Economic Police, Tatjana Durova and three others have been accused of accepting a bribe of over 10,000 Lat ($16,100) in order to close a criminal case related to value- added tax in the postal sector. Durova is the senior- most officer to be to be accused so far, since Latvian independence 10 years ago, in the duration of which, 14 Interior Ministry employees, 12 police officers and 2 border guards have been detained and convicted over bribery and smuggling charges. In close succession, on November 20th, another high- ranking official, Anda Busmane, head of the Environmental State Inspectorate, was detained for accepting a 1,200 Lat bribe in order to complete routine duties. It is said Ms. Busmane was angling for 4,100 Lat, and is to be suspended from her post and even fired if found guilty. Additionally, in a separate incident, a sanitary inspection chief from a border checkpoint and another health insurance institution official were detained on suspicions of smuggling undeclared computers into the country. These regular swoop downs on corruption in government offices has been instrumental in placing Latvia in the 59th position on Transparency International’s Corruption index, a score lower than any other European Union country except Romania. (The Baltic Times, November 23, 2001, summary by Aruna Balakrishnan).
DOING
POORLY IN DRAFTING IMPORTANT ANTI-CORRUPTION LAWS. In an article entitled
"Important laws are being developed too slowly, "published in the
Latvian
newspaper Diena on 11 October, Inta Lase criticises Latvia for being
slow
in developing a number of anti-corruption laws. Inta Lase argues that
even
though Prime Minister Andris Berzins's government has declared that it
wants
to fight against corruption, the Prime Minister in fact has not explained
why the process is moving forward so slowly. President Vaira Vike-Freiberga
has also said that she is not happy with the slow pace at which
laws that are needed to eliminate corruption are being drafted. According
to the article, "a law on conflicts of interest must be adopted in
order
to replace the old anti-corruption law. There must also be a law on
initial
declaration of property, a law on the financing of political parties,
a law on criminal process, and a law on an anti-corruption office.
None
of these laws has been submitted to the Saeima [parliament] as of
yet."(Source:
TI, BBC, October 11, 2001, summary by Pavlidis George).
CORRUPTION GAP MAY WORK IN LATVIA'S
FAVOR. People in Latvia view corruption in
their country as far worse than it in fact is. That was among the
conclusions
made by Inese Voika, the president of Transparency International's
Latvian's affiliate, in a briefing at RFE/RL's Washington office.
According to Mrs. Voika, there is a wide "gap" between how corrupt
Latvia
actually is and how corrupt Latvians think it is. Nevertheless, this
perception
can be proven positive. In fact, a 1999 World Bank survey has shown
that Latvian businessmen pay on average far less in bribes that do
their
counterparts elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, Latvian
government is interested in fighting corruption by involving TI in
monitoring
the long-delayed privatization of state-owned Latvian Shipping Company
(LASCO). The Government has also accepted the need for an "integrity
pact"
requiring all involved to forswear bribes or other dishonest conduct.
(Source:
TI, RFE/RL, April 9, 2001, summary by Pavlidis George).
The Index of Economic Freedom (by Driscoll-Holmes-Kirkpatrick) for 2001 places Latvia in the “Mostly Free” category with a rank of 47 (Ranks range from 1 for Hong Kong to 155 for North Korea, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 1, 2000). H. D. Vinod’s trimmed correlation analysis indicates that countries free from economic regulation are less corrupt. After allowing for some exceptions by 20% trimming, the correlation is near 0.9. |
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Design: Theo den Brinker |
Copyright: Hrishikesh D.
Vinod 2000 |
Last Updated: |
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