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Leading Latvian construction firm implicated in bribery probes in Latvia, Lithuania

Xinhua, June 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

A leading Latvian construction firm is in the center of two ongoing criminal investigations launched by law enforcement authorities in Latvia and Lithuania, the Latvian anti-corruption chief told reporters Friday.

The Latvian Corruption Prevention Bureau has been cooperating with colleagues from the Latvian Special Investigation Service to solve interconnected bribery cases in the Port of Klaipeda in Lithuania and the Traffic Department of the Riga City Council, Jaroslavs Strelcenoks, the head of the Corruption Prevention Bureau, told a news conference.

Six persons have been detained in Latvia and two in Lithuania in connection with the investigations, he said.

Latvian public television reported that Ugis Broza, the construction head at the Riga City Council's Traffic Department, was probably detained on Thursday night as part of the probe in Latvia.

Strelcenoks did not elaborate on the investigation that has been started in Latvia but said that it is linked with the probe in Lithuania.

A Latvian correspondent in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius said on Latvian Radio that the Lithuanian Special Investigation Service had detained Latvian citizen Genadijs Komkalovs, CEO of Latvijas Tilti bridge and road construction company, in a major operation that took place in both Baltic countries on Thursday. Also, simultaneous searches were conducted at several companies in Latvia and Lithuania.

Gediminas Zumaras, director for infrastructure at Lithuania's Klaipeda port, has been detained for awarding construction contracts to Latvijas Tilti in return for a bribe given by Komkalovs, according to Lithuanian media reports.

Latvijas Tilti has been doing business at the Port of Klaipeda for some time already. A few years ago the Latvian company performed construction works at the port's new terminal, and recently Latvijas Tilti won a new contract, worth 10 million euros (about 11.3 million U.S. dollars).

Although the bribe was not found during the searches at the port's offices, information gathered by the Lithuanian investigation service suggests that the bribe was worth tens of thousands of euro. Endit