Bribery is not a cultural tradition

The human rights organization Transparency International published the annual research “Barometer of World Corruption”, according to which in 2013 the level of corruption grew in the world. 50% of interviewed respondents in Russia believe that the level of corruption in the country grew in last two years; 37% think that it increased significantly. 39% say that corruption in the RF remains at the same level. 79% of those interviewed think that corruption is a serious problem; only 1% don’t consider corruption to be a problem. 77% believe that the state acts ineffectively in the fight against corruption.

Russian citizens think that the most corrupt elements are bureaucrats and state employees – 92%; the police take second place with 89%. 84% of people don’t believe in the honesty of judges; 83% - in the honesty of MPs. 77% think that political parties are corrupt; 75% - healthcare workers. In a year, 49% of respondents bribed healthcare workers, 47% - educational sphere employees. Only 20% gave bribes to the police.

The majority of Russian citizens – 56% - don’t believe that ordinary people can effectively fight corruption. At the same time, 92% of respondents are ready to take part in the struggle against bribery.

“Corruption is a dynamic process. It extends and deepens,” member of the board of Transparency and International (Russia), Yuli Nicnevich, says. “There are some traditional things which used not to be considered corrupt. This only relates to Russia: in many African countries the tradition of giving a present, a tradition of foster care is a cultural tradition. But today a cultural tradition has turned into a corrupt scheme. This doesn’t mean corruption is a part of their culture. The story is the opposite. I will give you an example. In Soviet times there was a mechanism called “blat.” It means profitable connections. Today 70% believe that connections with representatives of power are very important. It is a transformation of “blat” into another form. Is this a cultural tradition? I don’t think it is a cultural tradition. It is an anti-cultural tradition. This is what the Soviet authorities imposed on society.

There was a time when experts thought that corruption at conversational level had some positive effect because it overcame bureaucratic barriers. Big studies were conducted showing that it wasn’t so. If we count all the costs, it will be more expensive than following a non-corrupt way. This should be explained to people.”

According to the deputy head of Transparency International (Russia) Antona Pominova, “corruption is an institutional problem. If we say it is cultural, it appears we are culturally closer to Somali and Congo than to Estonia and Finland. We think this is not true and the problem is in state institutes.”

“All countries can be divided into two big clusters,” Yuli Nisnevich says. “In some countries the state functions in the context of competition; when competition is gone, corruption replaces it. Unfortunately, Russia is a state where corruption is a foundation in various spheres.

Corruption is a dynamic process. It can start from something tiny and then extend and deepen. Almost all spheres are infected in our country. I don’t think it’s crucial whether the level grows or decreases, if we understand that the whole mechanism is based on corruption. People assess attempts at fighting corruption. Understanding that it is not a fight, but its imitation, has increased by 20%. We can confirm it. Granted the existence of untouchable people, corruption cannot be defeated.”

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