Financial Services, Latvia, Security

The 61-year-old Burkans confirmed that he would like to stay on as the head of the office for another four-year term, then quit. He said he would file his application next week most probably.

Burkans has not considered other job opportunities, saying that his current job was his calling. The fight against crime will never come to an end, but he would like to continue in the job for one more term to complete the projects he is currently working on.

The Office for Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds Derived from Criminal Activity does a very specific job that requires great knowledge of the law, financial matters, and prevention of money laundering. "You can't learn money laundering prevention in school in Latvia," said Burkans, adding that such knowledge could only be acquired through practice.

"As far as I know from speaking to my colleagues, not only they want me to stay, it will be extremely difficult for them to work with another person," said Burkans. Employees at the office have a certain level of knowledge, and any newcomer will not be at their level. "Decisions on asset freezes have to be taken in not just one day, sometimes in just half-an-hour," stressed Burkans, adding that he and his subordinates could almost understand each other without words.