World Bank says Russia lags on anti-graft

WASHINGTON – Former communist countries and Turkey have simplified taxation, overhauled regulations and slashed red tape in a generally successful fight against corruption but poor enforcement means Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Albania are laggards, the World Bank said last week.

This is the third anti-corruption survey by the World Bank of Turkey and 26 former communist countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It found bribery on the decline in many countries but that the level of corruption still tended to be higher than in Western Europe.”After improving early in the decade, corruption does not appear to have fallen in many areas in Russia in recent years despite a number of reforms,” the World Bank said.Beefed up enforcement, specifically in Russia, and more reforms generally of the region’s courts systems are needed to prevent back-sliding, it added.Richer countries tended to be less corrupt, the survey found, but rapid economic growth could spur corruption as new, private companies are more likely to pay bribes than large or foreign-owned corporations.”Anti-corruption efforts succeed when rules and regulations are simplified, interactions between firms and public officials are limited and burdens on the private sector are reduced,” the report stated.Robust growth in Russia suggests the magnitude of bribery increased amid inconsistent and ineffective tax and public administration reforms, with bribes on the rise in business licensing and government procurement, the survey said.The promise of European Union accession proved a powerful motivator in Bulgaria where reforms have yielded fewer reports of bribes at customs and in various inspections and tax administration agencies.Measures of bribery also fell in Turkey, which has adopted conflict of interest laws, financial auditing and controls and income and asset declaration.In some cases bribery was lower than in certain Western European countries, the survey found.But Georgia saw the largest drop in corruption among all transition countries from 2002-2005 thanks to strong political leadership to lessen the burden of the state in the economy, improve fiscal transparency and strengthen oversight, it said.Albania, in contrast, passed many reforms and has some of the best public administration institutions in the region but companies surveyed said ineffective implementation left corruption levels unchanged or worse from 2002 to 2005.Inadequate implementation of reforms, capacity building and upgrading of managerial skills in Kyrgyzstan is why that country performed poorly on several indicators of corruption, it said.- Nampa-ReutersIt found bribery on the decline in many countries but that the level of corruption still tended to be higher than in Western Europe.”After improving early in the decade, corruption does not appear to have fallen in many areas in Russia in recent years despite a number of reforms,” the World Bank said.Beefed up enforcement, specifically in Russia, and more reforms generally of the region’s courts systems are needed to prevent back-sliding, it added.Richer countries tended to be less corrupt, the survey found, but rapid economic growth could spur corruption as new, private companies are more likely to pay bribes than large or foreign-owned corporations.”Anti-corruption efforts succeed when rules and regulations are simplified, interactions between firms and public officials are limited and burdens on the private sector are reduced,” the report stated.Robust growth in Russia suggests the magnitude of bribery increased amid inconsistent and ineffective tax and public administration reforms, with bribes on the rise in business licensing and government procurement, the survey said.The promise of European Union accession proved a powerful motivator in Bulgaria where reforms have yielded fewer reports of bribes at customs and in various inspections and tax administration agencies.Measures of bribery also fell in Turkey, which has adopted conflict of interest laws, financial auditing and controls and income and asset declaration.In some cases bribery was lower than in certain Western European countries, the survey found.But Georgia saw the largest drop in corruption among all transition countries from 2002-2005 thanks to strong political leadership to lessen the burden of the state in the economy, improve fiscal transparency and strengthen oversight, it said.Albania, in contrast, passed many reforms and has some of the best public administration institutions in the region but companies surveyed said ineffective implementation left corruption levels unchanged or worse from 2002 to 2005.Inadequate implementation of reforms, capacity building and upgrading of managerial skills in Kyrgyzstan is why that country performed poorly on several indicators of corruption, it said.- Nampa-Reuters