Johnson's Russia List
#6598
13 December 2002
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A CDI Project
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#12
BBC Monitoring
Russian Researchers Shine Light on Variations in Regional Corruption
December 12, 2002
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian 5 Dec 02 p 1, 8
The results of a study of the scales of bribery in Russia have been
revealed. The Centre for Anticorruption Studies, the INDEM Foundation and the
Open Society Institute recorded regional rates of corruption or, to put it
bluntly, calculated how much people in different regions had to spend to
"grease palms". The results are shocking. First of all, it turns out that
Moscow is not the centre of corruption, as everyone had assumed up to now.
Second, at least R520bn - almost a quarter of the national budget -
disappeared into the pockets of "decision-makers" in a year.
I reward the people I like
As a rule, any gift to a public official is regarded as a bribe in the
civilized world. In our country, on the other hand, this term applies only to
a reward followed by illegal action or inaction by the official. According to
experts, a blue- or white-collar worker abroad can lose his job merely
because he is suspected of unscrupulous behaviour. In our country, this
requires evidence of the bribe and of the mercenary motives of the parties
involved. Bribery is exceptionally difficult to prove. The art of bribery,
after all, was perfected over centuries. Here is an example that sounds
almost too amusing to be true: A trade inspector, who could see that the
money being offered to "grease his palm" consisted of marked bills, took the
money and immediately broke into a folk dance in front of the person who had
given him the bribe and his colleagues. The judge could not convict him
because witnesses alleged that the inspector had been paid to dance...
Furthermore, boxes of candy and bouquets of flowers are still not regarded as
bribes in our country. According to the letter of the law (Section 575 of the
Russian Federation Civil Code), any offering valued at under five times the
minimum wage (currently R2,250) is regarded as an ordinary gift. What if a
mayor, however, is so popular that someone wants to give him a gift every
single day? Or what if a person is in a hospital that seems to contain
nothing but walls and medical personnel? Each bandage, shot, medication and
service performed by a nurse requires the payment of a fee? What else could
this be? Nevertheless, legal experts say that it is extremely difficult to
catch bribe takers in the act and to prove bribery. There are thousands of
loopholes.
I do not trust the people I reward
The Centre for Anticorruption Studies measured the "capacity for bribery" in
the country with the help of the analysis the INDEM Foundation published in
spring this year. Project supervisor Yelena Panfilova remarked that most
economists doubted the centre's ability to do the job. Nevertheless, it was
done. The preliminary results were summed up in October and now the
researchers will be giving the government and the deputies their
recommendations for the fight against corruption.
The study was based on a sociological poll of about 6,000 citizens and 2,000
small and medium businessmen in 40 of the country's regions, inhabited by
approximately 80 per cent of the Russian population. Respondents were asked
not only to judge the scales of corruption but also to answer certain
questions: questions asking whether they had ever paid bribes, to whom and in
what amounts. The responses were then collated and produced the following
overview.
Citizens reported that the most corrupt administrations and agencies (in
descending order) were in Krasnodar Territory, Saratov Region, Udmurtia,
Maritime Territory and Karelia. Government offices in Bashkortostan and
Arkhangelsk, Kemerovo, Tyumen and Yaroslavl regions are the least corrupt,
according to local residents.
A detailed analysis, however, revealed that each region had its own
predilections and that there were striking regional differences in the
attitude of individuals towards various levels and branches of government. In
Novgorod Region, people have no respect whatsoever for federal officials and
feel that they can trust only the municipal and regional administrations. In
Nizhniy Novgorod Region, on the other hand, people feel that the only honest
officials are in the federal government. In Krasnodar Territory, the
personnel of law-enforcement and judicial agencies are thought to be corrupt
but people in Stavropol Territory expressed the opposite view: They respect
police officers and judges and do not trust the legislative and executive
branches of government.
Regional traditions of bribery
The overview of the "capacity for bribery" started looking quite different,
however, when researchers took a look at objective indicators - or, more
precisely, at the amounts and frequency of bribes. They learned that more
than half the respondents had paid a bribe at least once that year. To put it
plainly, at least half the national population is involved in bribery.
Furthermore, the average amount of the bribes citizens paid was about R2,000.
The most corrupt regions in this respect were Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod and
Saratov regions, the city of Moscow, Chelyabinsk Region and St Petersburg.
The least corrupt were Karelia and Yaroslavl, Tyumen, Arkhangelsk and Omsk
regions.
What is more, researchers learned that each region had its own traditions of
bribery. In some regions, money was extorted from the population (researchers
call this everyday corruption), in others it was extorted from businessmen
(administrative corruption), in a third group of regions, businessmen bought
decisions from officials (seizure of the state), and the opposite occurred in
a fourth group - officials established control over firms (seizure of
business).
Judging by the high rate of everyday corruption, people are rich in Tambov
Region, Moscow, St Petersburg, Sverdlovsk Region, Krasnodar Territory and
Chelyabinsk and Rostov regions (in descending order). At any rate, officials
in each of these regions steal from R23bn-11bn from the population. The
highest fees are paid in St Petersburg. The average bribe there is over 200
dollars. Even though incomes in Moscow would seem to be higher, the average
bribe in Moscow is only half that amount - about 100 dollars. Only officials
in Yaroslavl Region have to swim in shallow water: "Palm-greasing" there
costs no more than 20 dollars. Apparently, that is why the harvest from the
population is so small there - R596m. Nevertheless, researchers concluded
that most of the regions prone to everyday corruption are in the so-called
"southern belt". The bribes in those locations might be small but they are
solicited quite frequently. This is understandable: Business is
underdeveloped in those territories and the population has to serve as the
main benefactor.
Different types of bribery produced different rankings. Bashkortostan, for
example, was one of the leaders in administrative corruption (the extortion
of money from businessmen). Tula Region displayed weak government: "Seizure
of the state" is prevalent there. Khabarovsk Territory and Tyumen Region, on
the other hand, were distinguished by the "seizure of business". In general,
these types of corruption are closely interrelated and could be combined in a
single, more inclusive category - business corruption, which was widespread
in the rapidly developing regions, particularly in central Russia. Moscow was
the indisputable leader in business corruption. Total bribes for the year
amounted to R230bn or 7bn dollars. Next in line were Moscow and Nizhniy
Novgorod regions, St Petersburg and Kemerovo Region, where the "harvest" was
smaller - from R19bn to R40bn. The highest average lump-sum business bribe
was paid in Tula Region - R254,000 (8,000-9,000 dollars). The figure was
R187,000 in Nizhniy Novgorod Region, R155,000 in Moscow and R140,000 in
Moscow and Kemerovo regions. The amounts paid by businessmen in Omsk, Tver
and Pskov seem ridiculously small in comparison - no more than R3,000 in any
of those places.
In the country as a whole, businessmen paid public officials more than R350bn
and the average bribe amounted to R71,000 (or just over 2,000 dollars).
Furthermore, researchers stressed that these figures apply only to bribery in
the small and medium business sector.
An unwelcome law
A law on corruption has been taking shape for many years. Legal experts were
already issuing warnings at the beginning of the 1990s, saying that bribery
was quickly taking hold. Today, no-one can expect good service without paying
a bribe. Bribes are not only common in business (particularly in the areas in
which inside information and state orders enhance competitive potential).
People already think of bribes as an established fact of life. My colleague
has been making the rounds of various desks in a public utilities and housing
office for several weeks now. She wants to file a report on water damage in
her apartment. It is not that they have refused her request but they are
passing her around like a "hot potato". How could anyone prove that they are
practising extortion? In essence, bribes are now commonplace throughout the
country.
A few days ago, a law on the suppression of corruption was finally approved
by the State Duma deputies on first reading. Analysts predict a long and
difficult journey for the law. It is unlikely that anyone will pay a bribe to
get it passed quickly...
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