Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office began an investigation into possible violations during the construction of these facilities. In August, Interior Minister Janis Dombrava approached them, having discovered signs of inefficient spending and possible violations while assessing individual projects. Procurements were conducted on a "design and build" basis through open competitions. However, in all four major competitions, the cheapest bids were rejected based on formal criteria related to regulatory requirements, rather than due to price or insufficient competence of the builders. Particular attention was drawn to the project in Madona. The chosen location turned out to be economically and possibly operationally disadvantageous. As a result, 13,513 cubic meters of soil had to be transported there at a cost of 212,689 euros — 6.4 times higher than the average figure for the program. The cost of construction per square meter also raises questions. For example, in Alsunga, it reached 3672 euros. The circumstances are being clarified, as standard designs were used for the construction of the centers, although their equipment could vary. Another example is Kuldiga, where the installation of flower pots cost 3500 euros each. Trash bins cost several hundred euros, and individual tree saplings cost over 1000 euros. There are questions about the justification of such purchases and prices. Gatis Litvins, a member of the State Audit Office, reported that the agency had previously conducted an audit of these centers. Since spring, the State Audit Office has also been analyzing internal risks in the Ministry of the Interior system and the activities of the State Supply Agency. Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Interior has suspended the official responsible for the relevant area from duty and initiated an internal audit of individual construction projects. The Ministry of the Interior planned to build a total of 32 disaster management centers across Latvia. Their construction is financed from the state budget, the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the European Regional Development Fund. These centers house services involved in emergency response under one roof: the State Fire and Rescue Service, the State Police, the Emergency Medical Service, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, and the State Border Guard.
