Russia Plummets in Corruption Rating
Transparency International published its annual Corruption Perceptions Index yesterday, in which Russia has fallen to 143rd place, from 126th last year. It shares its ranking with Indonesia, Gambia and Togo. There are 180 surveyed in the index. The bottom three are Iraq, Myanmar and Somali. The top-rated countries are New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and Canada.
Great Britain occupies 12th place, Japan 17th place, the United States 20th place and China 72nd place. Estonia ranked 28th, Ukraine 118th, while Kazakhstan, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan ranked between 150th and 175th.
Elena Panfilova noted that the inclusion of 17 new countries in the ranking this year forced Russia's place down, but corruption is a serious and growing problem in Russia in any case. “There are a lot of words in the country about fighting corruption, but few actions,” Panfilova noted. Kommersant has learned, however, that the presidential administration is developing an anticorruption law, since the State Duma has been unable to pass such a law for several years now. Chairman of the Duma Commission on Corruption Mikhail Grishankov has confirmed that information. The draft law is to be examined by the Federation Council on October 8.
Kommersant has learned that the new law will require military personnel, judges, civil servants, politicians, law enforcement employees and managers of state corporations, as well as their close relatives, to declare their incomes, property, major expenses and conflicts of interest. Bribery and kickbacks will be considered corruption and punitive measures will include confiscation of property and a ban on holding office.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 27, 2007
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