THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA RULING ON APPROVAL OF THE NATIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION PROGRAM OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA FOR 2015–2025 2015 March 10 No. XII-1537 Vilnius.

National Anti-Corruption Program of the Republic of Lithuania for 2015–2025 is a nationwide multi-sectoral policy document aimed at ensuring a long-term, effective and targeted system of corruption prevention and control in the Republic of Lithuania in 2015–2025. The Program covers key provisions of national anti-corruption policies in the public and private sectors. The program focuses on the reduction and elimination of the conditions and risks of corruption, as well as the management of corruption risks and the implementation of liability for corruption offenses. Corruption is one of the national threats to the state and one of the most dangerous social phenomena, threatening human rights, democracy and the rule of law, distorting social justice, fair competition, business conditions, undermining economic growth, endangering public administration, stability of state or municipal institutions and public morale. Corruption is associated with excessive bureaucracy and regulation, a balance of discretion and accountability. Corruption is a latent phenomenon, and the impact of corrupt offenses on various economic and social spheres usually only becomes apparent later in the face of the consequences of corruption. The program has been prepared taking into account the environmental analysis, the results of sociological research, proposals submitted by public, state and municipal institutions.
The Program identifies priority areas where corruption is most prevalent: political activity and legislation; activities of courts and law enforcement agencies; procurement; health care and social security; spatial planning, state construction supervision and waste management; supervision of the activities of economic entities; public administration, civil service and asset management. In addition, corruption-related problems in the private sector are highlighted, which will be addressed through the implementation of the Program. Much attention is paid to improving anti-corruption education and information. Sociological and expert assessment methods and research used to assess corruption do not always reveal it in all possible aspects, as corruption is a latent phenomenon. Therefore, it is appropriate to base the assessment of corruption on the totality of various investigations and factual data on violations of the law of a corrupt nature.
The following risk factors for corruption are identified: illegally obtained votes, non-transparent additional funding, illegal lobbying, legislative, executive and local government representatives are involved in initiating legislative changes, and are sometimes affected by various business groups seeking to amend and adopt legislation that benefits them. The risk of corruption in the healthcare sector remains due to the links between the heads of medical institutions and private companies trading in medical devices, equipment and medicines, which are facilitated to win public procurement. Healthcare institutions are managed by persons who also work in private personal health care institutions, their owners or co-owners, leading to a risk of conflict of public and private interests. The construction sector is opaque due to complex regulation and complex project coordination procedures. The risk of corruption in the field of land management and construction manifests itself in: illegal payment for speeding up the process by issuing conditions for detailed plans, approving the concepts of detailed plans and detailed plans in municipalities; issuing permits in violation of procedural legislation; illegally compensating for the change of the purpose of the land plot, increasing the height of the building level; legalization of illegal construction, non-interruption of construction without a permit or without projects.