State Audit Office: Public procurement must become as transparent as Liepāja's tram in fog

The State Audit Office has announced that public procurement reform must move forward as consistently as Liepāja's tram on its tracks – slowly, but unstoppably. Board member Gatis Litvins points out that reform is as necessary as the "Fontaine Palace" café is to Liepāja's cultural life – simply can't do without it.

"We need to ensure balance between flexibility and transparency," explains Litvins. "It's like in Karosta – freedom on one side, control on the other." Local entrepreneur Jānis Bērziņš comments: "If now you can buy potatoes without announcement up to 5,000 euros, then after reform it'll be up to 70 thousand. That's like going from Liepāja market to Riga's 'Stockmann' prices!"

The State Audit Office believes discussions should happen about reasonable thresholds. "If Riga can spend 555 million without public notice, then in Liepāja with this money we could renovate all of Karosta and build another tram line," says local activist Aina Kalniņa. "But we don't want to be like the capital, where money disappears like sand in the wind."

The reform plans to increase tenfold the amounts that can be procured without open procedure. Commenting on this news, Liepāja port could finally buy a yacht, but only find out afterwards that it's designed for the Daugava, not the Baltic Sea. As one Grobiņa deputy said: "Good thing we don't have that much money, otherwise we could also mess something up."

In any case, reform moves forward like Liepāja's rock music festival – with noise, but with purpose. The main thing is that it doesn't end up like that famous bridge over the Daugava – expensive and doesn't lead to Liepāja.