According to a study by “Transparency International”, Lithuania is ranked among countries with limited implementation or no implementation of international commitments and was rated worse for its law enforcement efforts than neighboring Estonia and Latvia.
Lithuania has been awarded 1 point for the initiated investigations and for the first time it is classified among countries with limited or no enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. Previously, Lithuania was among countries with limited implementation of international commitments – it was awarded 3 points in 2020 and 2 points in 2018.
Between 2018 and 2021 Lithuania has launched one pre-trial investigation regarding the possible bribery of officials in Latvia by a Lithuanian company, operating in the field of blood plasma collection and disposal. Last year, this investigation was terminated without identifying any signs of a crime.
Lithuania falls into the same group with 20 other countries of limited compliance with OECD obligations to investigate foreign bribery, including Poland (1 point), Russia (1), Ireland (2 points) and the Czech Republic (3). The trade of these countries together accounts for 39.8% of world exports.
Neighboring Latvia and Estonia look better than Lithuania in the assessment. Estonia (6) falls into the category of countries with limited implementation of international commitments, while Latvia (16) – one of the two countries that improved its results in this assessment – has risen from a limited implementation to the group of countries with an average implementation.
The United States (1360) and Switzerland (101) have been rated the best for law enforcement investigations and their outcomes. Together these countries account for 11.8% of world export. In the last two years, the number of countries actively enforcing the Convention has decreased by half – in 2020 there were 4 countries (The United States, The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Izrael), which accounted for 16.5% of world export.
“These results are a clear signal that both law enforcement and business representatives must pay more attention to the management of corruption-related risks in the activities of companies and strengthening business transparency. In this context, it is especially important to ensure access to data so that we can better assess risks and spot potential “red flags” in time. For example, it is high time to follow the example of our neighbors and open the register of final beneficiaries in an open data format – we are currently the only Baltic country that has not done so” – says Ingrida Kalinauskienė, interim CEO of “Transparency International” Lithuanian chapter.
Based on the findings of this study, Transparency international Lithuanian chapter recommends:
- To pay more attention to the promotion of international cooperation in investigating such cases;
- to publish information on this type of investigations and cases;
- to open the beneficial ownership register in an open data format;
- improve the implementation of the Law on Protection of Whistleblowers;
- strengthen money laundering prevention;
- to better inform the public and private sectors about the foreign bribery risks involved.
Lithuania committed to investigating business bribery of foreign officials abroad in 2017 when it signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions. In total, this Convention has been signed by all 38 OECD countries and 6 non-OECD countries.
The study was carried out by the Transparency International (TI) Secretariat together with national TI chapters and experts in all OECD member countries (except Iceland) as well as non-OECD members China, India, Hong Kong and Singapore. The study assessed the number of pre-trial investigations and cases commenced and concluded in each state in 2018-2021. These results were also analyzed taking into account the export volumes of the countries. The analysis divided the countries into 4 groups: (1) active, (2) moderate, (3) limited, and (4) little or no enforcement of the OECD Convention.
The full report can be found here (in English).
More information:
Ingrida Kalinauskienė, ingrida@transparency.lt, +370 5 212 69 51