Shock is our way: the volume of especially large bribes increased by 13%

The extent of corruption

For starters, dry numbers from reports. Corruption in Russia as of September 2009, according to the assessment of Transparency International, was at the level of Bangladesh, Kenya and Syria: 147-th place from 180 (the higher the level of corruption, the greater the number). According to the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, the number of registered bribes increased from 6,7 thousand in 2007 to 8 thousand in 2008. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, last year 13 thousand facts of bribery were recorded. At the same time, the number of registered bribes in a large amount (over 150 thousand rubles) increased by 13,5%, to 219. In 2009, the Ministry of Internal Affairs investigated 53 crimes related to the seizure of property, according to 15 of which criminal cases were sent to the court, victims suffered damages worth 268 million rubles.

If we talk about the injured shoemakers, the most notorious case at the end of 2008 was the attempted raider seizure of the Kazan shoe factory "Spartak". Moreover, this is not the first time that citizens of Kazan have become the object of illegal actions.

In the spring of 1999, members of the Rifkat Vakhitov group learned about the company's large tax debts. They informed Farid Akhmetzyanov, who was then in charge of the factory, that the Moscow-based Instal Service company intends to purchase a batch of tarpaulin boots from Spartak by order of the Central Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The director agreed to the deal, because it was about the amount of 4 million rubles, which would allow the company to cover its debts. Raiders insisted that Akhmetzyanov open an account for receiving money in one of Moscow banks, which was also under their control. Then, the group members drafted fictitious bank payment orders to transfer to this account an advance payment for boots in the amount of 2,3 million rubles. In response, Akhmetzyanov handed over a shipment of shoes to the raiders. In fact, the money did not go to the OJSC account.

Shadow Sources of Income

Corruption (from Latin corrumpere - "to corrupt") is the use of one's power for personal gain. There are two types of corruption - domestic (doctors, teachers, traffic police and court officials take bribes from all ordinary mortals) and business (officials from courts, customs and tax services take bribes from entrepreneurs).

If you want to find a reason for unauthorized by law withdrawing money easily. Only customs officers have five major sources of shadow income. Entrepreneurs pay (not all and not always) for passing goods prohibited for transportation across the border, for returning confiscated goods, for lowering customs duties, simply for the absence of unreasonable cargo delays, for deferring customs payments.

The imperfection of the legislative base, the general unstable political situation, political patronage, weakening mechanisms of control over corruption, and also the low level of citizens' participation in state control contribute to the growth of corruption.

Anti-corruption experience

If we exclude common words on the topic of “deepening, expanding and taking measures”, then the National Strategy proposes to create an effective system for monitoring corruption (at the level of both adoption and enforcement of laws), a system of punishing fines, a system to minimize the harmful effects of corruption, and a system for encouraging honest officials, so that both morally and materially, it would be disadvantageous for them to take bribes, and in general - a system of interaction between different branches of government, between regions, between government and society.

In general, almost like in Denmark, which occupies an honorable 1 place in the list of countries with the lowest level of corruption. Top positions in this list are from Singapore, Sweden, Israel, Norway and Australia. In Israel, grassroots corruption is almost completely eliminated - officials have great social benefits, and the punishment for detecting corruption is ruthless. Not more than 5% reaches the court, nevertheless, a person involved in a corruption scandal has a bad reputation. A similar situation in Ireland.

Repressive measures with apparent effectiveness are unlikely to give the desired result - bribery, if it decreases, it will not be much, and the amount of bribes will automatically soar to heaven as a payment for increased risk. In any case, this is the case in China.

By the way, by October 1 of 2010, the presidium of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation is waiting for proposals on the establishment of a lobbying institution in our country (how much it is needed, and if necessary, how to organize it). So, shoe companies have a great opportunity to consolidate in order to convey their aspirations to the authorities in a centralized manner.

prehistory

How did we come to such a rapid increase in corruption? Are bribe amounts changing? How are the proceeds of corruption distributed across different branches of government? Based on the data of the INDEM Foundation and the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Research Center, the following picture emerges.

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If we talk about everyday corruption, there are two key trends. On the one hand, the demand for corruption is decreasing (less and less Russians want to give bribes), on the other hand, the corruption pressure of the authorities is growing (officials want to get more). That is, if earlier it was possible to speculate that both takers and givers are to blame for corruption, now this thesis simply contradicts the facts.

Since there are less and less willing people to make officials happy, the intensity of corruption is falling (the average number of bribes per year per one bribe giver). But at the same time, the average size of bribes is growing.

Another situation in the business corruption market. The value of only one indicator, the intensity of corruption, decreased by 20%. But the size of the average bribe over five years, from 2001 to 2005 year, has grown more than 13 times. Almost 9,5 times the volume of the corruption market increased. It is clear that prices, and incomes of citizens, and budget revenues were growing at the same time. But the numbers are still impressive.

Researchers compared the average size of a bribe with the average cost per square meter of a new apartment. It turned out that in 2001 for one bribe it was possible to buy an 30-meter apartment of medium quality, and four years later - an apartment of 300 square. m. Growth is almost seven times!

Further, the researchers compared the size of the business corruption market with the federal budget revenues. And here, too, there is something to ponder! If in the 2001 year the income of officials from business corruption was one third less than the revenues of the federal budget, then in the 2005 they exceeded them by a factor of 2,66. More recent data, unfortunately, are not available.

Most of the proceeds of corruption go to the executive branch. An additional analysis shows that medium and large businesses tend to underestimate data on the turnover of their enterprises and, accordingly, on the size of bribes. All this leads to the fact that the data on corruption are obviously not true, and its real level, perhaps one and a half times higher.

Business corruption practice in Russia (2001 – 2005)

Business Corruption Market Structure in Russia (2001 – 2005)

For your information:

In countries with the lowest level of corruption, the salaries of officials in 3 – 7 times exceed earnings in the manufacturing sector.

According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, in 2007, the import value of imported goods was underestimated by $ 23,4 billion.

Since 2008, about 800 thousand various laws and projects have passed anti-corruption expertise in Russia. Almost 48 thousand corruption facts were revealed in them. In 2009, the Anti-Corruption Commission recorded more than 1,3 thousand violations, 214 people were brought to disciplinary responsibility, and materials on 29 facts were sent to law enforcement agencies. In 2010, such commissions will start working in the regions.