TI Latvia: New Three Brothers Project Requires All-Encompassing Anti-Corruption Plan

Transparency International Latvia announced today its views about anti-corruption steps taken by the New Three Brothers Agency and the Ministry of Culture in relation to the construction of a new national library, concert hall and modern art museum. For the past year, TI Latvia has monitored the work of the agency, offering consultations and recommendations with respect to its anti-corruption activities. Among other things, TI Latvia has audited the agency’s procurement processes and helped in improving internal procedures and in training employees.

This co-operation shows that anti-corruption activities must be a priority for the national agency over the next half-year. The agency must do the things that are indicated in the National Anti-Corruption Programme – evaluate the risk for corruption, design anti-corruption plans, and implement relevant internal procedures. Procurement is a particular issue here.

The agency must understand that an effective resources against corruption is public communication, along with a precise plan of action. The agency must do more extensive and proactive work in publishing any information that might be of interest to the public. The agency must also bring to life the code of ethnics which it recently designed.

During the next six months, the second priority must be the involvement of businesses in the fight against corruption. The participation agreement between TI Latvia and New Three Brothers speaks to a high level of corporate social responsibility, which means that companies must be actively involved in anti-corruption efforts. Anti-corruption is one of four pillars in present-day corporate social responsibility (the others are environmental protection, the rights of employees, and social programmes). The understanding of corporate social responsibility in New Three Brothers projects is based on the Transparency International Business Principles which are a part of the United Nations global agreement on CSR.

During the year in which the participation agreement has been in effect, there has been no need to raise an alarm at the agency or the ministry, as well as in the business environment and the public at large. The third priority during the next six months must be an effort to create greater trust in the instruments whereby an alarm can be raised – these instruments must become better known.

Only a serious approach to these priorities will guarantee responsible use of public resources in the New Three Brothers project.

The tripartite participation agreement among TI Latvia, New Three Brothers and the Ministry of Culture speaks to public reports about what is being done. The document was drafted in design with the Transparency International principles for integrity agreements.

Everything is to be done to prevent corruption and to observe the principles of good governance, openness, transparency and information availability in governance and politics. Business structures must uphold a high standard of social responsibility.

TI Latvia has promised to inform the public about progress in the anti-corruption effort and to raise an alarm if there are any violations in governance or in terms of inactivity on the part of political leaders.

The National Auditor, Inguna Sudraba, has said that the agreement among TI Latvia, the agency and the ministry was the most important anti-corruption instrument in Latvia in 2005. Transparency International works with governments and political and business structures on pursuing integrity agreements in the whole world.

In Latvia, we are directly using the experience of TI Germany related to the construction of a new international airport in Berlin.