MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Mikhail Khmelev) - It is common knowledge that corruption is inevitable in any non-prosperous and socially and economically underdeveloped country.
Corruption is rampant in Russia despite its impressive economic progress of the preceding years. Bribery is on the increase in everyday life and in the corridors of power, experts say. Officials are of a different opinion.
Many organizations are studying corruption in Russia. The situation with bribery is extremely serious, if we are to believe them. As the INDEM Foundation, one of Russia's principal corruption fighters, alleges, bribes from companies to officials amount to an annual total of $316 billion. Up to 7% of corporate revenues goes to grease officials' palms.
The Center for Anti-Corruption Research and Initiative of the independent transnational organization Transparency International thinks corruption rent, i.e. prices bloated to cover bribes, accounts for as much as 15% of the costs of Russian consumer goods and services.
Everyday bribes are smaller at least by a factor of 100. INDEM says people pay for services intended to be free $3 billion a year. Estimations of an average bribe for 2006 vary. Transparency International says it was 3,323 rubles ($129), Levada Center 5,048 rubles ($195), and the VTsIOM sociological research institute 4,700 rubles ($182). Police statistics offer a wide bracket from 500 to 15,000 rubles ($19-$580), depending on the part of the country.
It is hard to tell whether 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 by television footages. 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% of Russians bribed anyone last year. On the whole, one third of the total population had an experience with bribe-taking officials. A Levada Center poll says 10% of Russians think corruption reports are a pack of lies to smear the nation.
Only 21% of businessmen have been victim to extortion from officials, says the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Foreign investors encounter corruption even rarer, 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% of expatriates see graft as the worst obstacle to investing in Russia.
Despite all that, it is no use denying that corruption is part of present-day Russian life. Bribery flourished in Russia even in times immemorial, for that matter. People always paid doctors, traffic police and petty clerks. As for bribing officials for business privileges and to avoid punishment, this evil burgeoned in the 1990s, as Russia began transforming from a totalitarian state into a democracy. Loopholes in economic regulation laws and an utter lack of public control of bureaucracy gave it impunity. The problem got an edge in the early 2000s.
The rise of public alarm with corruption coincided in time with its comprehensive studies launched in Russia. Transparency International has been monitoring it 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 started too late, when Russian officials and businesspeople had an established reputation of incorrigible grafters. Such opinions are firmly rooted in Russia and worldwide. Russia is at the top of Transparency International corruption lists, ranking 127th out of 163, in close proximity to Honduras, the Philippines and Rwanda, on its corruption perceptions index for 2006. Russian companies are 28th among the world's 30 leading exporter countries.
There is no way to put an end to bribery, but it can be reduced, at any rate. The Russian administrative reform for 2006-2008 dedicates a whole section to anti-graft efforts. The Economic Development and Trade Ministry is developing an idea of total bribery checks on bills getting through parliament. Minister German Gref reports sudden checks in alleged cesspools of bribery - departments responsible for government purchases, housing distribution, etc. Certain federal and local executive bodies bug suspicious dealings. The State Duma is getting ready to pass a bill for greater transparency of government agencies. It will make publishing relevant information compulsory, with the exception of classified documents.
The ministry is sure pay rises for civil servants will eradicate bribery. Characteristically, it is presently 40% less than in the private economy. Ministry experts evaluate total bribes at 1.2% of the Gross Domestic Product - just the difference between government and private sector salaries. Will the "rich official, honest official" pattern work in Russia? Time will show. Certain European countries needed 15-20 years to get it working.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
