Following the recommendation of the State Audit Office, one can justifiably be appalled at how taxpayer money has been spent by the capital city's municipal pocket foundations – the Riga Tourism Development Bureau and Riga.lv. No less bizarre financial whirlpools have been created within state institutions, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, which uses the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia to shuffle money from one of its pockets to another.

Annual audits regarding the accuracy of institutional annual reports have revealed numerous expenditures that were initially planned for one purpose but later allocated to something entirely different. In the case of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM), auditors highlight the liquidation measures for the Salaspils nuclear reactor as a prime example of mismanagement.

How they failed to liquidate the reactor

This story, it must be recalled, has been dragging on since 1998, when the reactor was shut down. Ten years later, the spent fuel was transported to Russia with American money, and that was the end of the liquidation, because the crisis hit. One after another... but when money appeared for the government again, it was spent on everything else, except the intended purpose: filming foreign movies in Latvia, digitising KGB documents, purchasing quad bikes, new computer equipment, developing a construction project for the renovation of the ministry's administrative building, and even organising forums on regional labour issues. It would have been better to attract labour to demolish the reactor, because the money is there. "To ensure the implementation of the Salaspils nuclear reactor liquidation measures, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development has been granted total funding of 8.2 million euros, yet liquidation has still not begun," concluded the State Audit Office.

However, the failure to liquidate the nuclear reactor is by no means the only long-term oddity or even scheme in the use of environmental funds. For example, huge sums are invested year after year in projects related to the well-being of birds and their researchers, purely because for leading social activists in the environmental sector, it is simultaneously a hobby and a source of income. The head of the Latvian Ornithological Society, Viesturs Ķerus, is a member of the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia and the head of the Environmental Advisory Council. This combination of positions and interests results in profitable ornithology, where the useful is combined with the pleasant. The activist can commission a project for themselves and carry it out themselves. For example, developing a species protection plan for the hazel grouse (Bonasia bonasia) or publishing the magazine Putni dabā.

Money for soft projects

A similar elegant scheme through the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia is also being operated in the ministry's own interests. According to the definition contained in the law, the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia is a pool of state budget funds for the implementation of environmental protection measures and projects. The keeper of the fund is a direct administration institution under the jurisdiction of VARAM - the Administration of the Environmental Protection Fund of Latvia. An industry expert drew the attention of Neatkarīgā to the fact that the fund is being used to supply money to the ministry itself. In fact, VARAM, as the leading institution in the environmental sector, earmarks money for the implementation of the fund's goals and then consumes it itself. This concerns several so-called soft projects, where the only tangible benefit is some reading material or a seminar. The sums involved are not astronomical, yet even a few tens of thousands could be spent more meaningfully. 15 thousand from the fund were allocated to the project 'Comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of environmental communication and media projects supported by the LVAF in the overall environmental communication space, strategic recommendations for future environmental communication creation'. The deadline for the project's implementation is the end of September.

A larger sum – 39,390 euros – was allocated to the ministry's project 'Presentation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Environmental Performance Review for Latvia and informing the target audience'. Project conclusion in October.

20 thousand were allocated to the VARAM Environmental Protection Department for the project 'European Mobility Week 2019 (EMN2019) communication campaign'.

Another 12,910 euros were allocated to the ministry as 'Support for the Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States in 2019'. The task of this project is: "planning, preparation and ensuring the hosting of an international forum on the use of the life-cycle approach in project and procurement planning and implementation". Planning the planning is undoubtedly the duty of the ministry, but it is unclear why the money must be routed through its subordinate institution beforehand. This scheme is not used in other sectors. For instance, there is no such thing as a Latvian Foreign Affairs Fund or Defence Fund.

Mother competes with daughters

Of course, Neatkarīgā inquired about this with the Ministry of the Environment, and the explanation is worth marvelling at. It turns out that the ministry, which dictates and implements national environmental policy, including allocating money to the Environmental Protection Fund, also competes with its own subordinate institutions to receive it. Here is a shortened explanation – first regarding the fund's budget, which exceeds four million euros this year: "The fund's total budget is formed by VARAM according to the same principles and procedures as any state budget programme is formed and approved. The decision on the use of funds, including the allocation of funding to specific projects and the procedure for how one can apply for this funding, is made by the fund's council."

The chairman of the council is none other than the Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Juris Pūce. There are two other high-ranking ministry employees on the council. One representative each from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Latvian Association of Local Governments, and the University of Latvia, as well as the aforementioned manager of bird money, Viesturs Ķerus.

This company then decides who to give money to and who not to. And in the specific Sectoral Environmental Project Competition, VARAM competed as equals with its subordinate institutions for the favour and money of the minister-led council. As explained by the VARAM press service:

"The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, the State Environmental Service, the Nature Conservation Agency, the State Environmental Monitoring Bureau, and the Latvian Museum of Natural History were eligible to apply for funding in the mentioned competition (there were 2 rounds)."

The jury led by Minister Pūce was harsh and uncompromising. The ministry was not spared and received 520 euros less than initially requested for the planning of the procurement planning seminar.