It is common knowledge that corruption is inevitable in any non-prosperous, socially and economically underdeveloped country. Corruption is rampant in Russia despite its impressive economic progress over the past few years. Experts say that bribery is increasing in everyday life and in the corridors of power, but officials are of a different opinion.
Many organizations study corruption in Russia and, if we are to believe them, the bribery
situation is extremely serious. One of Russia's leaders in the fight against corruption, the INDEM Foundation, alleges that bribes from companies to officials amount to an annual total of $316 billion. Up to 7 percent of corporate revenues go to greasing officials' palms.
The Center for Anti-Corruption Research and Initiative of the independent transnational organization Transparency International thinks corruption rent – inflated prices to cover bribes –accounts for as much as 15 percent of the cost of Russian consumer goods and services. Everyday bribes are smaller. INDEM says people pay $3 billion a year for services that should be free. Estimations of the average bribe in 2006 vary. Transparency International says it was 3,323 rubles ($129), Levada Center 5,048 rubles ($195), and the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion (VTsIOM) estimates it to be 4,700 rubles ($182). Police statistics offer a wide bracket from 500 to 15,000 rubles ($19-$580), depending on which part of the country.
It is hard to tell whether the sociologists' calculations are correct because of the secrecy surrounding bribes. Such studies are usually based on opinion polls. The business community usually exaggerates its problems in handling officials, while ordinary people judge the amount of corruption mainly based on television footage. Customs and police officers are denounced the loudest, so respondents name them as the worst extortionists. Private businessmen say other departments have even more itchy palms.
Other opinion polls show less alarming figures. Only 8 percent of Russians admit to bribing anyone last year. On the whole, one third of the total population has had an experience with bribe-taking officials. A Levada Center poll says 10 percent of Russians think corruption reports are a pack of lies to smear the nation. Only 21 percent of businessmen have been victim to extortion from officials, according to the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Foreign investors encounter corruption even more rarely, unless they are themselves eager to bribe. The majority of their problems are settled without underhand deals thanks to the authorities' efforts. According to the Foreign Investment Consultative Council, only 22 percent of expatriates see graft as the worst obstacle to investing in Russia.
Despite all that, there is no use denying that corruption is part of present-day Russian life. Bribery has flourished in Russia since time immemorial. People have always paid doctors, traffic police and petty clerks. Bribing officials for business privileges and to avoid punishment mushroomed in the 1990s, as Russia began transforming from a totalitarian state into a democracy. Loopholes in laws covering economic regulation and an utter lack of public control over the bureaucracy gave it impunity.
The problem came to a head at the turn of the 21st century. The rise of public alarm over corruption coincided in time with the launch of comprehensive studies of the issue in Russia. Transparency International has been monitoring corruption since 1998; the INDEM Foundation received a major targeted grant in 2001; and the World Bank joined in with its estimations two years later. Concerted state efforts against corruption began too late, after Russian officials and businesspeople already had an established reputation of being incorrigible extortionists. Such opinions are firmly rooted both in Russia and worldwide. Russia is close to the top of Transparency International’s list of corrupt countries – ranking 127 out of 163, in close proximity to Honduras, the Philippines and Rwanda, on Transparency’s corruption perceptions index for 2006. Russian companies are ranked 28th in terms of corruption among the world's 30 leading exporting nations.
There is no way to put an end to bribery, but it can be reduced. The Russian administrative reforms of 2006-2008 dedicate a whole section to anti-corruption efforts. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade is developing an idea of total bribery checks on bills being passed by the Duma. Minister German Gref reports sudden checks in alleged cesspools of bribery – the departments responsible for government purchases and housing distribution, for example. Certain federal and local executive bodies bug suspicious dealings. The State Duma is getting ready to pass a bill calling for greater transparency of government agencies that will make publishing relevant information compulsory, with the exception of classified documents.
Gref’s ministry is certain that rises for civil servants will eradicate bribery. Salaries for government workers are presently 40 percent less than in the private sector. Ministry experts evaluate total bribes at 1.2 percent of GDP – just the difference between government and private sector salaries. Will the "rich official, honest official" pattern work in Russia? Only time will tell. Certain European countries needed 15-20 years to get it working.
Mikhail Khmelev is an economic commentator for RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
