The State Revenue Service (VID) has managed to liquidate most or possibly all corruption hotbeds that plagued the service in the past, said the reinstated VID director General Ieva Jaunzeme in an interview to LTV programme Rīta Panorāma on Tuesday, the 17th of January.
«I have reason to believe we have successfully liquidated most or, perhaps, all of our historical corruption hotbeds that have existed for the past 30 years and long before my term. This is why this is not about a clean-up process, rather the way to keep people with selfish intentions from working at VID,» said Jaunzeme.
She also mentioned that the recent events have made it clear that
corruption is mostly concentrated among low-level employees that have contacts with customers.
The head of VID also mentioned no more selection processes for posts in the service with wages at EUR 750 will be announced from now on. «One thing is clear: publication of job offers with wages between 750-820 euros for very responsible work cause only laughter on social media. It also casts a shadow of doubt about people’s actual reasons for applying for work,» said Jaunzeme.
She also mentioned that without additional funding it will be necessary to look for ways to reorganise VID staff costs in order for the service to be able to afford average wages. As previously reported, data from the Central Statistical Bureau for Q3 2022 indicated that the average net wage (before taxes) in Latvia was EUR 1 384 for full-time work.
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