Daimler bribe scandal reaches Latvia

The German carmaker Daimler paid bribes to win contracts in a number of countries, including Latvia. This throws a bad light on the country, the daily Latvijas Avīze finds: "It's interesting that in this and other major corruption scandals Western companies are frequently involved. Daimler paid bribes in China, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Latvia, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Vietnam, among other countries. When you look at this list you notice that Western firms tend to dirty their hands less at home but take it for granted that such methods are possible or even inevitable in other countries. ... The bad news is that in the eyes of Western businesspeople Latvia is obviously among the countries where little can be achieved without bribes. And the passivity with which Latvia reacts to such news is a sign that this criticism is justified."

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