Corruption in Russia

Spread of corruption

A notable worsening of this ranking for Russia-from 90th place to 126th-occurred at the beginning of Vladimir Putin’s second term as president: a drop of 36 places in only one year. An eminent pessimistic picture emerges from the estimates of the average size of bribes which has increased over the last five years. For example, according to the Interior Ministry ’s Department for Combating Economic Crimes, the average bribe amounted to 9,000 Rubles in 2008; 23,000 Rubles in 2009; 61,000 rubles in 2010; and 236,000 rubles in 2011. In other words, the average bribe in 2011 was 26 times greater than the average in 2008, many times the inflation rate for the same period. ^[8]

According to Sergei Ivanov , the Kremlin chief of staff, the most corrupt spheres in Russia are in healthcare, education, ^[9] housing and communal services. ^[10] In comparison, independent experts from RBC’s law enforcement agencies (including the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate) as the most corrupt sphere in Russia, which is followed by healthcare, education, housing and communal services, and social security services. ^[11] At the government level, however, the government contracts and purchases; Issuance of permits and certificates; Law enforcement agencies; Land distribution and land relations; Construction.

There are many different estimates of the actual cost of corruption. ^[12] According to Rosstat, the „shadow economy“ has only 15% of Russia’s GDP in 2011, and this included unreported wages and other types of tax evasion. ^[13] According to Rosstat’s estimates, corruption in 2011 amounted to only 3.5 to 7% of GDP. In comparison, some independent experts maintain that corruption consumes as much of 25% of Russia’s GDP. ^[14] A World Bank report puts this figure at 48%. ^[15]There is also an interesting shift in the hand of bribery: they have taken their eyes off their eyes to legal offenses, they now take them to perform their duties. ^[16] Many experts admit that in recent years corruption in Russia has become a business. In the 1990s, businessmen had to pay different criminal groups to provide a “ krysha “ (literally, a „roof“, ie, protection). Nowadays, this „protective“ function is performed by officials. Corrupt hierarchies characterize different sectors of the economy, ^[17] including education. ^[18]

In the end, the Russian population for this corruption. ^[19] For example, some experts believe that the rate of increase in tariffs for housing, water, gas and electricity, which is significantly higher than the rate of inflation, are a direct result of high volumes of corruption at the highest levels. ^[20] In the recent years, the reaction to corruption has changed. Putin’s system is notable for its ubiquitous and open merging of the civil service and business, and its use of relative, friends, and acquaintances to benefit from the budget and take over state property. Corporate, property, and land raiding is commonplace. ^[21]

Anti-corruption efforts

An anti-corruption campaign in modern Russia began on April 4, 1992, when President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree entitled „The fight against corruption in the public service“. This document is published in French. In addition, they are required to provide information on their personal income, personal property and real estate holdings, as well as their financial statements. The implementation of the decree, which formed the basis of the laws on combating corruption and on civil service, was vested in the presidential control directorate. Russia passed the first package of anti-corruption laws in 2008 in response to its ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the Council of Europe’s “ Criminal Law Convention on Corruption „. The decree „On Anti-Corruption Measures“ was signed by former Prime Minister Medvedev in May of that year. Since then, many changes have been implemented in Russia’s anti-corruption legislation with the purpose of combating bribery and improving its business climate. The Russian anti-corruption campaign is an ongoing effort by the Russian government to curb corruption, which has been recognized as one of Russia’s most serious problems. Central documents in the campaign include the National Anti-Corruption Plan , introduced by Medvedev in 2009, and the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, introduced in 2010. The central organ in the campaign is the Anti-Corruption Council, established in 2008. Medvedev has made the fight against corruption of one of the top agendas of his presidency. Medvedev said: „I will repeat one simple, but very painful thing.Corruption in our country has become rampant.It has become commonplace and characterizes the life of the Russian society.“ ^[22]

In 2012, the government adopted a new law on the rights of public servants and their organizations, and their families of real estate, securities, stock and vehicles. The legislation has also, for the first time, defined the conflict of interest in public officials and extended anti-corruption legislation to the military. The last change to the Federal Anti-Corruption Law No. 273 was made in December 2012 and was implemented on January 1, 2013. By upgrading the Anti-Corruption Law with Article 13.3, its anti-corruption legislation, aligning it with the best practices recognized on the international level, such as the UK Bribery Actand the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act . Articles 13.3 of the Anti-corruption Law requires organizations to develop and implement anti-corruption measures such as (i) referral to a specific department; (ii) cooperating with enforcement authorities; (iii) developing and implementing standards and procedures for ethical business practices; (iv) establishing an ethical code of conduct for personnel; (v) preventing and resolving conflicts of interest; and (vi) preventing the filing of false documents and the use of forged documents. Russia also joined the OECD Anti-Bribery Conventionin 2012 and has the G20 Presidency in 2013, where fighting is one of three main issues on the agenda. Companies should prove that they are complying with the Anti-Corruption Law.

The anti-money-laundering initiative

Corruption has an obvious connection with money , and it has been used in the past. The proceeds of corruption may be laundered in jurisdictions which have a strict anti-money laundering measures and in which countries. This is the reason why the „de-offshorization“ policy endorsed by President Putin in 2012 and 2013 (after the Cyprus Case) is often considered to be a new anti-corruption measure. The government’s recent initiatives forRussian Federal Financial Monitoring Service („Rosfinmonitoring“). A law has been drafted, which introduced amendments to a number of legal acts and aimed at increasing the transparency of currency transactions and strengthening anti-money laundering measures in Russia. This law is a change in the scope of the law, and is passed on 30 June 2013. The law introduces changes to a range of legislative acts and ensures the overall improvement of the control of businesses and citizens with respect to financial operations.

The most important amendments for businesses. The regulations would have to be more important than the rules of the law. On one hand, they allow the bankers to demand disclosure of the transaction from the client. On the other hand, this may be important in optimizing business.

National Plan to Counter Corruption

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a new national anti-corruption plan for the period from 2014 to 2015. The President of the Executive Board and Legislative Authorities of July 1, 2014 to make amendments to their anti-corruption plans and to ensure their enforcement. A rising order in the National Plan to Counter Corruption for 2014-2015.

The governor of the country is arrested for stealing money from state funds. ^[23]

Research

Transparency International Russia’s report from 2012 shows a variety of activities that give citizens a chance to monitor corruption. It collaborates with the Youth Human Rights movement on a large-scale campaign in 20 cities to check police officers‘ identification tags. This is a proactive exercise to stop petty corruption. If an officer can be identified, he or she is less likely to ask for a bribe. Transparency International Russia also monitors the income statements of the public and the results of 600 million rubles (US $ 19 million) of public funds to socially oriented NGOs, and found several cases of conflict of interests . It provided analysis and recommendations on making this process more transparent and accountable. the NGO works cooperatively with all individuals and groups, with-for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and organizations, and with bodies committed to the fight against corruption. It undertakes professional analysis and papers on corruption-related issues, and tries to explain the reasons for the spread of corruption, its political and social implications, and the possible scenarios for the future.

On 9 December 2014 Novosti reported that the head of the National Anti-Corruption Committee Kirill Kabanov admitted to a corrupt third. ^[24] As of 2015, Russian officials are periodically charged with spending on luxury cars, or more often than not. ^{[25] [26] [27] [28] [29]}

See also

• List of people convicted of bribery in Russia
• 2017 Russian protests

References