Ministries say most large procurements are critical

Latvia’s State Chancellery and ministries do not plan to postpone most large planned procurements, describing them as critical or urgent, LSM reported. They also pledged closer control of spending.

The government had asked the State Chancellery and ministries to review planned supply and service contracts worth at least 140,000 euros and construction procurements worth at least one million euros. Their assessments concluded that only a few procurements of this scale should be cancelled, while most were considered critical. The government accepted the assessments without comment.

The review followed restrictions on signing new contracts. Soon after taking office, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs of the United List imposed a one-month moratorium on large and costly information and communications technology procurements to review their necessity and procedures. The move followed criminal proceedings opened by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in spring 2026 over suspected fraud in information technology procurement.

The restrictions were later extended until mid-August and suspended the signing of new ICT development contracts by ministries and their subordinate institutions, including transactions through the Electronic Procurement System’s e-catalogues.

The rules called for broad competition and economical use of public funds, with steps to reduce the risk of inflated prices. Exceptions were allowed for procurements needed to maintain critical state information systems, prevent cybersecurity incidents, carry out urgent legal duties or protect important state interests. Such exceptions required prior written approval from the finance minister.

Tags: Latvia, public procurement, government