Zee Beam News

Moscow. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vasily Kononenko) - Addressing his CIS colleagues in Yerevan, Russian Minister of the Interior Rashid Nurgaliyev made a sensational statement: corruption has turned from local threat into a dangerous transnational phenomenon affecting all CIS economies. His revelations could be interpreted as a PR exercise, or an attempt to protect himself from the indignation of his compatriots and the growing irritation of the Kremlin. Indeed, hardly a week goes by without loud denunciations and special operations in his ministry against corrupt officials, gangs of murderers and robbers, or carjackers, not to mention the epidemic proportions of bribery on the roads. Nevertheless, there is more to Nurgaliyev's statement than a desire to enforce law and order in just one ministry. Apparently, the current streamlining of the tax collection system is being accompanied by the mounting efforts to revise the rules and regulations that permit the appalling corruption of the Russian officialdom to flourish. Addressing the regional leaders of the South Federal District in mid September, President Vladimir Putin stated that the rampant corruption and cronyism in the South paralyze business in the region. He added: "This is not just a problem of the South, but of the nation as a whole." According to a recent government decision, all draft bills and regulatory acts of branch ministries and departments will go through mandatory anti-corruption screening by independent experts. The authorities were forced to adopt such tough measures because of the increasing number of complaints from businessmen and ordinary people about ineffective legislation and unscrupulous officials. An investigation has shown that opportunities for corruption are often programmed into a law at the initial stages of drafting. When amendments to the law "On Medicinal Drugs" were examined, it became clear that only one provision appeared to be corruption- free. Many deputies report that "tacit bribe tariffs" have existed in the legislature for many years. For instance, adoption of the required law may cost a million dollars or more, while a major amendment may have a price tag ranging from tens to several hundred thousand dollars. An important inquiry in the current State Duma costs at least 7-10 thousand dollars. The Federation Council operates somewhat differently. Senators do not care for inquiries at several thousand dollars but set up groups of lobbyists and charge many times more. The National Anti-Corruption Committee has calculated that the annual turnover of petitions by deputies to high-ranking officials runs into billions of rubles. Polls of medium-sized businesses in Moscow, where a quarter of them is registered, have shown that "compensation" to officials of different ranks amounts to at least $600 million a month, or over seven billion dollars a year. Minister of Economic Development and Trade German Gref has admitted that bribes in housing construction reached $3.5 billion a year. One of the first steps Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov took against corruption was a decision to double or triple officials' salaries. But it became clear a year later that this measure failed to yield the desired effect. Opinions on anti-corruption measures are divided. Some insist that it should be stamped out by force, whereas others claim that officials should be paid even more. Gradually, a comprehensive approach prevailed. It is based on five principles: drastic reduction in the state's intervention in the economy; severe criminal punishment for bribes; higher salaries to officials; social guarantees to government employees; installation of video cameras in government offices, and in all other places where officials may contact businessmen. But these measures will have no effect unless the authorities at different levels display enough political will to combat corruption, and create an atmosphere of intolerance to bribes. This is hardly feasible in a short space of time