Corruption in Latvia
Corruption in Latvia is examined on this page.
Extent
According to several sources, the Latvian political system faces serious corruption. The influence of private interests involved in illegal political party funding undermines the efforts to combat political corruption.[1] According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2013, 68% of surveyed households consider political parties to be corrupt or extremely corrupt—ranking as the most corrupt institution in Latvia. Furthermore, 55% of the surveyed households believe that the level of corruption has stayed same and 67% of surveyed households find government efforts in the fight against corruption to be ineffective[2] Transparency International's 2019 Corruption Perception Index ranks the country 44th place out of 180 countries.[3]
There is a widespread perception that politicians and businesses are too closely linked in Latvia. Business executives surveyed in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 believe that public funds are sometimes diverted to companies, individuals or groups due to corruption, and the lack of sufficient ethical behaviour of companies with public officials, politicians and other companies is a competitive disadvantage for the country.[4]
Reaction
The leading specialised anti-corruption authority of Latvia is the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB; Latvian: Korupcijas novēršanas un apkarošanas birojs).[5] It was established in October 2002, following adoption of the Law on Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau on 18 April 2002.[6]
See also
- Police corruption in Latvia
- International Anti-Corruption Academy
- Group of States Against Corruption
- International Anti-Corruption Day
- ISO 37001 Anti-bribery management systems
- United Nations Convention against Corruption
- OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
- Transparency International
References
- ^ "BTI 2012 | Latvia Country Report". the Bertelsmann Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Global Corruption Barometer 2013". Transparency International. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Corruption Perception Index 2019".
- ^ "Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014". World Economic Forum. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "English presentation on KNAB official website". Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- ^ "2016 KNAB Progress and results report" (PDF). Retrieved 25 July 2018.