Corruption Costs Russia $120 Billion Annually
Moscow News
10/06/2008
Corrupt officials are siphoning off $120 billion dollars a year from the government’s national budget according to a senior government prosecutor. This is approximately a third of the $376 billion dollar budget for 2008, highlighting the magnitude of the task facing President Dmitry Medvedev, who has pledged to take steps to eradicate corruption.
We “will work on improving legislation to counter corruption. This is important for changing life in Russia for the better” Medvedev told an audience in Germany last week.
Tackling corruption has been made one of the priorities for the new administration as it a significant drain on the economy. The extra expense of bribes is a disincentive for people starting new businesses and investing money. Russian businessmen spend $33 billion dollars a year on bribing officials according to Information Science for Democracy, an NGO dedicated to developing democratic institutions in Russia.
In 2007, Russia was ranked 143rd out of 179 by the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, which ranks countries from least to most corrupt. This survey found that 17 percent of respondents said they had paid bribes in order to receive a service.
Neil Cooper of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce highlighted corruption and bureaucracy as two
of the main concerns of investors. However, at the moment “the positives of investing in Russia far outweigh the negatives,” he added.
At a board meeting on Friday, Alexander Bastrykin, the chairman of the Investigation Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, said “In the first quarter of this year, the Investigation Committee opened over a thousand criminal probes into bribe taking, compared to only 2,067 for the whole of 2006.”
He added that around 16,000 corruption related crimes had been reported so far this year. The number of reported incidents was up 9.4 percent for the first three months of this year compared to 2007, although the detection rate for corruption related crimes is also on the rise.
The issue of tackling corruption has been focused on at the St. Petersburg International Forum. In his opening address, President Medvedev pledged a war on corruption and measures to strengthen the judicial system and ensure the supremacy of law.
Last month a Counter Corruption Council was set up, which the President will chair. The overriding aim is “to establish an independent judicial system that corresponds to the level of economic development,” according to Medvedev.
Another measure set to be implemented is a database of property details, which will help prevent tax evasion.
“There already is a database on what property people own but we are talking about streamlining it to make it easier to use and see what people own by synchronizing what different agencies and ministries already have,” Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov told Reuters on Saturday. We “will work on improving legislation to counter corruption. This is important for changing life in Russia for the better” Medvedev told an audience in Germany last week.
Tackling corruption has been made one of the priorities for the new administration as it a significant drain on the economy. The extra expense of bribes is a disincentive for people starting new businesses and investing money. Russian businessmen spend $33 billion dollars a year on bribing officials according to Information Science for Democracy, an NGO dedicated to developing democratic institutions in Russia.
In 2007, Russia was ranked 143rd out of 179 by the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, which ranks countries from least to most corrupt. This survey found that 17 percent of respondents said they had paid bribes in order to receive a service.
Neil Cooper of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce highlighted corruption and bureaucracy as two
of the main concerns of investors. However, at the moment “the positives of investing in Russia far outweigh the negatives,” he added.
At a board meeting on Friday, Alexander Bastrykin, the chairman of the Investigation Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, said “In the first quarter of this year, the Investigation Committee opened over a thousand criminal probes into bribe taking, compared to only 2,067 for the whole of 2006.”
He added that around 16,000 corruption related crimes had been reported so far this year. The number of reported incidents was up 9.4 percent for the first three months of this year compared to 2007, although the detection rate for corruption related crimes is also on the rise.
The issue of tackling corruption has been focused on at the St. Petersburg International Forum. In his opening address, President Medvedev pledged a war on corruption and measures to strengthen the judicial system and ensure the supremacy of law.
Last month a Counter Corruption Council was set up, which the President will chair. The overriding aim is “to establish an independent judicial system that corresponds to the level of economic development,” according to Medvedev.
Another measure set to be implemented is a database of property details, which will help prevent tax evasion.
“There already is a database on what property people own but we are talking about streamlining it to make it easier to use and see what people own by synchronizing what different agencies and ministries already have,” Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov told Reuters on Saturday.
By Ed Bentley
LINK TO ARTICLE: (HERE)
FERRIER INTERNATIONAL keeping you informed and we thank MOSCOW News and Ed Bentley for this article.
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