GERMANY: Transparency International says perceptions of graft in Eastern Europe are "quite bad" following publication of its annual corruption index for 2013.

Record ID: 751268

  • Title: GERMANY: Transparency International says perceptions of graft in Eastern Europe are "quite bad" following publication of its annual corruption index for 2013.
  • Date: 4th December 2013
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (DECEMBER 4, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WHERE ANTI-CORRUPTION ORGANISATION TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL'S OFFICES ARE LOCATED BUILDING BANNER READING (English): "TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL, THE GLOBAL COALITION AGAINST CORRUPTION" BANNER READING (English): "FIGHTING CORRUPTION" BANNER READING (English): "20 YEARS FIGHTING" (SOUNDBITE) (English) T
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVAA41SGAPXVI7DQ6G8CEXI6UZDK
  • Story Text: Eastern Europe was amongst the lowest ranking regions in the world in a global index of perceived official corruption, watchdog Transparency International (TI) said on Wednesday (December 4).
    TI's coordinator for the region, Svetlana Savitskaya, said the graft situation in Eastern Europe, as well as in Central Asia and former Soviet Union countries, was "quite bad", adding that in some instances levels of actual corruption had deteriorated compared to previous years.

    "Perceptions of corruption in Eastern Europe is quite bad and this year's CPI, Corruption Perceptions Index, shows that the situation hasn't improved whatsoever. I would even say that across former Soviet Union countries the situation with corruption has deteriorated," Savitskaya told Reuters TV.
    The anti-graft organisation ranked 177 countries in its Corruptions Perceptions Index for 2013, placing New Zealand and Denmark joint first with the lowest levels of perceived corruption and Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan tied in last place.
    Of the 177 countries, two thirds came in at under 50 points on TI's scale, where 100 stands for the most clean and 0 for the most corrupt.
    Georgia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Armenia, Kosovo, Albania, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were all ranked below the 50 points mark.
    The Berlin-based institute measures perceptions of graft rather than actual levels due to the secrecy that surrounds most corrupt dealings.
    Savitskaya put the poor performance of many countries down to a lack of political will and a lack of institutional implementation of anti-corruption strategies.

    "It is a lack of political will, the governments just try to do window dressing and the reforms they accept have a more decorative character and there is a lack of institutions that would enforce and promote solid anti-corruption reforms on the ground," said Savitskaya.

    "Governments who sign to international anti-corruption commitments, they don't care about implementing those commitments properly, for example the UN Convention on Corruption or the case with Russia they signed the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Anti-Bribery Convention which is not enforced and it is not implemented as the report findings show," she said.
    A general stagnation of anti-corruption reforms was also singled out as one of the key issues for such high levels of graft in the region with perceived "anti-corruption champion" Georgia also ranking lower than expected.

    "Surprisingly enough Georgia had scored a little bit worse than we expected actually, because Georgia is traditionally perceived as an anti-corruption champion in Eastern Europe but they dropped by 3 points, I think, if I remember correctly. So Georgia has deteriorated and other countries, like Armenia and Azerbaijan, they show very slight, very minimal improvement. Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asia countries, they stagnate, so we also say that across this region there is stagnation in anti-corruption reforms," Savitskaya added.
    As the political crisis in Ukraine continues following President Viktor Yanukovich's decision last week to spurn a trade and cooperation pact with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia, TI said the recent protests in Kiev were a natural response in a country where corruption levels were dazzling.

    "Corruption is ravishing in the country (Ukraine) and we know that citizens had hopes that if the government signs the Association Agreement with the European Union they would turn towards Europe, hence they would adopt European values of transparency and accountability, so it's very natural in a way what's happening right now in Ukraine. Citizens are just expressing their concern and unhappiness with the government's decision," Savitskaya said.
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