Millions in Bonuses Paid in Public Administration: Who Received the Most

Photo: LETA

Last year, employees in Latvia's public administration were paid 17.5 million euros in cash bonuses, as revealed by the Latvian Television program "What is Happening in Latvia?", reports LETA.

Compared to 2024, the amount has decreased by more than a quarter — at that time, expenses in this category amounted to nearly 24 million euros.

At the same time, the broadcast established that there is growth in three sectors — in the economy by 20%, in foreign policy by 19%, and in transportation by 7%. Meanwhile, there has been a sharp decline in the welfare and agriculture sectors — by 86% and 84%, respectively. The third largest decrease is in the justice sector, where the total amount of bonuses has halved.

The largest amount of funds — 6,713,722 euros — was paid to employees of the Ministry of the Interior system, 2,514,906 euros to employees of the Ministry of Health system, and 1,460,189 euros to employees of the Ministry of Defense system.

As the broadcast found out, a total of 19,566 employees out of 58,359 received bonuses — just over a third. The number of recipients also decreased: a year earlier, 26,056 workers received bonuses.

More than ten thousand recipients were awarded small bonuses — up to 700 euros. More than 4,000 bonuses were in the range of 700 to 1,000 euros, while 1,612 people received bonuses over 2,000 euros.

Bonuses of 5,000 euros and more were awarded to 45 recipients — considering the legal restrictions, such amounts could only be received by senior officials. Among these 45 recipients, there are no representatives from six sectors, while 13 people represented the financial sector, nine the economic sector, eight the internal affairs system, five the smart governance and regional development sector. Also among the recipients are four representatives from the transportation sector, two from health and climate, and one each from justice and education.

The largest amount — 7,485 euros — was paid in the State Revenue Service. Among the ten largest bonuses, none of which is less than 6,500 euros, three were paid in the Central Statistical Bureau, two in the State Treasury, and one each in the Latvian Investment and Development Agency, the Central Finance and Contracts Agency, the Ministry of Climate and Energy, and the Ministry of Transport.