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Central Europe
February 1, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
"All international corporations apply internal clearing prices in accordance with financial legislation and standards,” Audi was quick to respond to criticism of keeping wages lower
in Hungary, one day before the wage agreement was reached.
According to local business portal Portfolio, Audi has acknowledged what many industry analysts
Latvian anti-corruption officers raid Riga city hall, mayor’s home
bne IntelliNews
Officers from Latvia’s Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) searched both Riga city council offices and the home of the city’s mayor Nils Usakovs on January 30.
KNAB did not reveal the reason for the searches, saying only that it was part of an ongoing criminal investigation.
It follows a serious corruption scandal concern- ing municipal transport company Rigas Satiksme (Riga Transport) that claimed the job of deputy mayor Andris Ameriks in December. Later that month, six people were detained in Latvia and an- other two in Poland as part of the probe into Rigas Satiksme tenders.
According to reports in the Latvian press, KNAB officers searched the offices of Usakovs, leader of the pro-Russian centre-left Harmony party, at the city council building, leaving with documents and computers, The Baltic Course reported. They
had known for long, that high productivity at Audi's Hungarian unit are not solely due to relatively low wages, but are part of the tax optimisation used by many multinationals to show profits where taxes are the lowest. Hungary's 9% corporate tax rate is indeed the lowest in the Europe Union and the German carmaker has used that to its advantage, it notes.
also searched Usakovs’ Riga home, again taking with them several bags that appeared to contain documents.
Speaking to reporters in Riga, Usakovs denied any wrongdoing, saying: “Honestly, I promise that my conscience is clear.” He also insisted he did not plan to step down.
“The most important thing I want to say to those who favoured our list a year and a half ago is that I personally do not engage in any illegal activity,” Usakovs wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. “Riga continues to work as normal,” he added.
However, opposition politicians say they will seek to have the politician removed. Vilnis Kirsis of the Unity party said that Usakovs should resign imme- diately. “[T]he opposition of the Riga City Council is ready to help him take this step, so we have begun collecting signatures to convene an extraordinary meeting to release him,” Kirsis tweeted as news