In September 2022, former Minister of Finance Jānis Reirs (New Unity) has issued an order regarding the initiation of disciplinary proceedings and the suspension of the Director General of the State Revenue Service, Ieva Jaunzeme, for unjustified failure to perform duties, a specific order or task, or delayed, negligent or poor performance.
The Director General of the VID will continue to carry out her duties until the end of her term of office, but a number of tasks will be assigned as the conditions for continuing the work, which will have to be completed within a specified time and the course of which will be regularly reported to the Minister. These tasks will have to be controlled by FM.
"The main task of the Director General of the VID will be to restore the reputation of the VID, and this should be done at all levels and in all administrations, by implementing a zero-tolerance approach in the field of corruption and conflict of interest. It is necessary to ensure that bribery in customs does not become a norm accepted by the public. All needs to be done so that or fabricated audits or criminal proceedings are not possible within the institution.
"It will also be necessary to fundamentally review the personnel management policy and to strengthen the institution's internal control systems in order to further prevent violations by VID officials," said FInance Minister Arvils Ašeradens.
"I met with Ieva Jaunzeme before the decision was taken, and she pointed out that, in cooperation with the VID Internal Security Board, significant work has been done so far in improving internal control and detecting crimes, as well as in eliminating shadow economies. It is time to show and prove the result of these jobs also to taxpayers and the whole society," the Fiinance Minister said.
The Disciplinary Investigation Commission consisted of officials from FM, KNAB, and the Ministry of Justice.
