Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has promised to cut down on crooked accounting by his cash-starved government.

RIGA — Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has pledged to cut down on what he termed “creative accounting” techniques in a bid to end large bonus payouts for state officials.

In a Wednesday interview with Latvian Public Radio, Dombrovskis said the Finance Ministry was preparing proposals to cut back on expenditures on bonuses.

“We will follow it closely, so there will not be creative accounting, a form of premiums that are not reported as premiums,” he said.

The comments came on the heels of a Tuesday report from Auditor General Ingrida Sudraba, which claimed that last year’s end-of-year bonus payments cost the state more than 1 million lats. Another copy of the letter was sent to Prosecutor General Janis Maizitis.

Delfi reported on Wednesday that some of the institutions involved included the Ministry of Culture, the State Chancellery, the State Plant Protection Service, National Forest Service, State Border Guards, the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, the Electronic Procurement State Agency, and the Defense Ministry’s State Property Agency.

Dombrovskis pledged that this year the practice of sizable end-of-year bonuses would be put to an end.

Former Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis attempted at the end of last year to put an end to the practice of paying large bonuses to state employees. Many ministries and other public institutions were later criticized for sidestepping the ban and giving their employees additional payment through gift cards and other forms that were not explicitly banned.