Corruption in Russia 06/10/2010
On Tuesday, four Russian soldiers were charged with stealing bank cards from an official who died in the crash of the Polish president’s airplane. They allegedly withdrew over $1700 from the deceased man’s account and spent it on food and alcohol. As Jon pointed out, this truly sacrilegious incident underlines the growing problem of corruption in Russia’s governmental bureaucracy.
How has the Kremlin responded? Outwardly, the Putin administration is leading the charge against graft and incompetence. In his most recent speech, President Medvedev instructed the federal cabinet to “immediately reduce the number of bureaucrats by twenty percent.” Such a drastic cutback to the “inert” federal staff is expected to decrease Russia’s bloated deficit and moderate the country’s endemic corruption.
It does not, however, deal with the larger problem of enforcement. According to the think tank INDEM, a person who takes a bribe in Russia has a 0.0013% chance of facing prosecution. This means that only one out of every 100,000 corrupt officials actually goes to prison, even though the annual ‘corruption tax’ amounts to over $300 billion. With such high potential rewards and such a low chance of punishment, all of the remaining bureaucrats will have added incentive to milk the system. In fact, more than 50% of Russians think that bribery and fraud are permanent features of life.
Medvedev’s new proposal also fails to address the problem at the top. By expropriating Yukos and blackmailing Ukraine over the price of oil, the leaders of Russia, Inc. set an example of flippant disregard for the rule of law. Until the Kremlin starts acting in a more transparent and ethical way, none of its anti-corruption measures will succeed. After all, a philosophy of ‘do what I say, not what I do’ never restrains anyone.
The four conscripts in Smolensk acted in an immoral and impious manner. But they are clearly not alone. Unfortunately for them, they will be the only ones in the dock once the trial starts.
-Joe
How has the Kremlin responded? Outwardly, the Putin administration is leading the charge against graft and incompetence. In his most recent speech, President Medvedev instructed the federal cabinet to “immediately reduce the number of bureaucrats by twenty percent.” Such a drastic cutback to the “inert” federal staff is expected to decrease Russia’s bloated deficit and moderate the country’s endemic corruption.
It does not, however, deal with the larger problem of enforcement. According to the think tank INDEM, a person who takes a bribe in Russia has a 0.0013% chance of facing prosecution. This means that only one out of every 100,000 corrupt officials actually goes to prison, even though the annual ‘corruption tax’ amounts to over $300 billion. With such high potential rewards and such a low chance of punishment, all of the remaining bureaucrats will have added incentive to milk the system. In fact, more than 50% of Russians think that bribery and fraud are permanent features of life.
Medvedev’s new proposal also fails to address the problem at the top. By expropriating Yukos and blackmailing Ukraine over the price of oil, the leaders of Russia, Inc. set an example of flippant disregard for the rule of law. Until the Kremlin starts acting in a more transparent and ethical way, none of its anti-corruption measures will succeed. After all, a philosophy of ‘do what I say, not what I do’ never restrains anyone.
The four conscripts in Smolensk acted in an immoral and impious manner. But they are clearly not alone. Unfortunately for them, they will be the only ones in the dock once the trial starts.
-Joe
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