RIGA, April 22 (LETA) - In recent years, corruption prevention practices and measures have improved in local governments, the Corruption Prevention Bureau's Chief Jekabs Straume said at a meeting of the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments' (LALRG) board on Friday.

According to Straume, local governments have introduced improvements and internal control mechanisms in order to reduce the risk of corruption, as LALRG representative Ella Petermane informed LETA.

Corruption in Latvia, including in local governments, is no longer a primary problem, as the situation has improved both through the regulatory framework and in society itself, said Straume.

At the same time, local governments should continue to improve measures for preventing corruption and conflict of interest by developing and implementing effective internal control systems, identifying and assessing potential risks, and regularly improving municipal officials and employees' knowledge and understanding of ethics and anti-corruption issues, said Straume.

In turn, LALRG chairman Gints Kaminskis pointed out that the level of trust in local governments was much higher than in public administration institutions. However, many people wrongly believe that Latvia has a very high level of corruption, which is not true.

Namely, according to a survey conducted for the Corruption Prevention Bureau by Latvijas Fakti at the beginning of 2021, 94 percent of residents said that that they had not become a victim or witnessed corruption during the pasts 12 months, at the same time criticizing officials' integrity in corruption matters.

This has led the Corruption Prevention Bureau to conclude that public perception and assessment of the corruption situation in the country is largely shaped not by people's individual experience, but by information about various criminal offenses actively disseminated through various information channels.

During the meeting, LALRG board and Corruption Prevention Bureau representatives acknowledged that complaints to the Corruption Prevention Bureau about possible conflict of interest or corrupt practices of municipal officials and procurement procedures are often used as tool to influence the given local government.

LALRG board believes that further improvements in the regulatory framework are needed to eradicate such situations, as they waste the resources of both local governments and the Corruption Prevention Bureau.