Zee Beam News

RBC, 21.06.2006, Moscow 17:56:57 – Every second Russian (53 percent) admits having offered bribes, a poll carried out by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center shows. Some 19 percent say they often offer bribes while 34 percent said they did it sometimes. Another 45 percent of the people polled said they had never had to do it. Those most commonly bribed include medical professionals (51 percent), traffic police (31 percent) and education authorities (20 percent). Some 16 percent of the people polled have bribed policemen, another 7 percent have paid military officials while 10 percent named civil servants responsible for execution of land, privatization and probate cases. Another 10 percent of respondents mentioned bribing to obtain a job. The majority of respondents (61 percent) think that corruption starts with small-time bribery, like presents given to doctors, teachers or housing office functionaries. Around 30 percent of respondents believe that low level bribes do not have serious consequences and cannot be compared to political corruption. Almost half of the people polled (46 percent) believe that if officials stopped accepting bribes, it would be easier for people to solve their problems. Another 12 percent think that this would make the problems more complicated. Some 26 percent of respondents are sure that it would not affect the way people's problems are solved. The All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center polled 1,589 people in 46 regions in Russia.