Experts from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on public sector integrity visited Latvia to present an interim report, which includes an initial analysis of Latvia’s conflict of interest prevention framework and its application in practice. Report was presented to the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB), the State Chancellery, the Ministry of Justice, the State Revenue Service and other competent State administration institutions, as well as to non-governmental organisations.
The interim report also includes preliminary conclusions of the OECD on the conformity of the law On Prevention of Conflict of Interest in Activities of Public Officials with international standards and good practice, as well as a number of possible recommendations on how the provisions of the respective law could be modernised and improved and conformity with its requirements in the actions of public officials could be promoted.
The international organisation, while welcoming Latvia’s achievements in the area of conflict of interest prevention, notes that Latvia’s conflict of interest prevention framework is relatively effective compared to other member countries of the OECD. According to the OECD, the ongoing work should be continued and new recommendations for improving the framework should be considered.
OECD experts Alice Berggrun and Pelagia Patsoule met with 15 representatives of public and non-governmental institutions at the premises of KNAB. During the meetings, the OECD experts heard the views of the competent institutions on the interim report and possible recommendations, their necessity and usefulness for implementation.
The visit of the OECD experts to Latvia took place on 27–28 September and was part of the project ‘Strengthening the Anti-Corruption Framework in Latvia’ initiated by the KNAB. The overarching objective of the project is to support Latvia in developing and implementing reforms in the area of prevention of corruption. The project has three sub-objectives: to review the compliance of the regulatory framework governing the prevention of conflicts of interest with the current situation, to conduct a qualitative assessment of the internal anti-corruption control systems prepared by public institutions, and to prepare a methodology for assessing national corruption risks.
The project ‘Strengthening the Anti-Corruption Framework in Latvia’ was launched on 16 January 2023 and is expected to be implemented over a period of 18 months. It is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support under the Technical Assistance Instrument. Technical assistance is provided by both the European Commission and the OECD. KNAB is responsible for the implementation of the project.