Latvian President fined

Latvia's incoming president, criticised for taking undeclared cash payments from patients, said yesterday he had been fined by the tax authorities ahead of taking office next week.

Surgeon Valdis Zatlers was chosen as president by parliament on May 31 and he takes office on July 8.

His revelation that he took undeclared cash payments as thanks for his work, like many Latvian doctors, caused a storm of criticism from some commentators, who said he was unsuitable to lead the EU and Nato member nation.

Mr Zatlers paid the fines for providing incomplete information in his tax return and all outstanding issues with the tax office were now settled.

The affair renewed debate in Latvia about payments that patients make to doctors on top of regular medical fees as critics insist that patients want to secure the best treatment possible in a country which remains one of the poorest in the EU.