KNAB to assess gifts from Stepaņenko’s Russia-based father
Wednesday 16th September 2026 on 17:30 in
Latvia
Latvia’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) will assess information about substantial gifts received by Jūlija Stepaņenko, a prime ministerial candidate for the Sovereign Power/New Latvians party alliance, from her father, who lives in Russia, LSM reported.
Riga City Council member Ģirts Lapiņš of the National Alliance has asked KNAB to determine whether receiving the money complied with the law on preventing conflicts of interest in the work of public officials. He also asked the bureau to assess whether the funds were used to finance pre-election campaigning in breach of the law, or whether Stepaņenko received money through her father to sponsor her campaign and promote policies favourable to Russia in Latvia.
KNAB told the LETA news agency that it received the submission on Wednesday and would assess the information within its remit.
Justice Minister Edvards Smiltēns of the United List has also approached KNAB, the State Security Service, the Constitution Protection Bureau and the Financial Intelligence Service. The Justice Ministry said he had asked each institution to assess, within its competence, publicly available information about Stepaņenko’s declared gifts and the origin of the funds.
In an interview with LETA’s podcast, Stepaņenko declined to explain the source of the funds gifted by her father, citing her family’s right to privacy and the right to receive gifts from relatives. She confirmed that her father lives in Russia and helps her family, although he left the family when she was a child.
Stepaņenko said the gifts had been declared and that anyone who suspected problems with the origin of the funds could contact law enforcement authorities. She did not explain her father’s occupation or the source of his funds.
Her public official’s declaration lists two gifts from her father with a combined value of 419,598.05 euros. A declaration filed when she left office on October 31, 2022, records a gift of 239,598.05 euros. A declaration covering the period from November 1, 2023, to October 31, 2024, records an apartment in Riga worth 180,000 euros received from her father on January 12, 2024.