Since August 2, the duties of the head of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) have been performed by the Deputy Head for Investigative Affairs, Ineta Cirule. She replaced Jakabs Straume, who retired after years of service, according to public media. Cirule has worked at KNAB for over 20 years and is well acquainted with the institution's operations. According to her, she learned about Straume's decision to leave the position only a day before this information became public. The interim head stated that she does not plan to make significant changes in the bureau's work. At the same time, she did not rule out that she would participate in the open competition for the position of head of KNAB. In Cirule's opinion, during Straume's leadership, he managed to strengthen the institution's team. At the same time, she believes that the bureau should more actively inform the public about its work and the results achieved. In the coming weeks, the Cabinet of Ministers is expected to decide on announcing an open competition for the position of head of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau. According to the law, the bureau's head is appointed for a five-year term by the Saeima upon the government's proposal. However, not everyone believes that the competition should be held right now. Agnija Birule, a representative of the society for openness Delna, believes that it is necessary to wait for an independent assessment of KNAB's activities, which is being prepared by the University of Latvia at the request of the State Chancellery, as well as the results of the State Audit Office's inspection. In her opinion, only after that will it be clear what the strengths and weaknesses of the agency are and what tasks the new leader will need to address. The assessment of KNAB's activities is expected at the beginning of next year. This means that the competition may take place even before the experts' conclusions are published if the government does not decide to change its plans. Valts Kalnins, an associate researcher at the Providus center, believes that under Straume, the bureau became more cohesive and strengthened its professional potential. At the same time, he stated that the perception of the level of corruption in society has not significantly changed during this time. One of the reasons he cited was the insufficiently active public communication from the former leader.