Taking into account public interest related to publicly available information about possible involvement in the unlawful transfer of restricted-access information in IT procurements, the Minister for Smart Administration and Regional Development Raimonds Čudars has suspended the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection Edvīns Balševics from performing his official duties, the ministry reports.
“Within the framework of the investigation, it is important to ensure that all persons involved in violations of the law are held accountable; the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Regional Development Agency fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities. At this point, within the framework of the criminal proceedings, law enforcement authorities have approached several officials of the ministry and the State Regional Development Agency. We have requested information about the status of these persons in the criminal proceedings or any restrictions applied to them, so that, if necessary, all required actions can be taken,” the minister states.
According to the applicable regulations, the head of an institution may temporarily, but for no longer than one month, suspend a civil servant from performing his or her official duties, stopping salary payments from the day of suspension, if this is necessary for the protection of public interests, security, or health. In the case of unjustified suspension, the civil servant is paid salary for the entire suspension period.
Inc. has already reported that, in connection with the development and operation of IT systems for the 2025 municipal elections, law enforcement authorities carried out procedural actions at the State Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Edvīns Balševics. Procedural actions were also carried out in relation to the former head of the State Regional Development Agency (VRAA), Jorens Liopa, as well as businessman and owner of Corporate Solutions group, Aigars Ceruss. For the latter two, bail has been applied as a security measure.
Originally published at https://inc-baltics.com/uz-laiku-no-amata-atstadina-it-skandala-ierauto-varam-valsts-sekretaru/
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
