The new Corruption Perceptions Index shows that, unfortunately, our performance in this area is getting worse (last year, Russia was ranked 127th), and we are now on a par with countries to which comparison is hardly flattering: Nigeria, Uganda, and Madagascar.
Of course, one can take some comfort in the fact that things are even worse in Ukraine, but personally I find that rather weak consolation.
All materials in Russian can be read here.
I would point out that this is not a ranking of corruption itself, but a ranking of the perception of corruption. You can read more about the methodology here.
Interestingly, at the same time as TI, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published a study on corruption. They analyzed data on cases of bribery of public officials over the past 15 years.
Russia is not included there (it signed the anti-bribery convention only in 2012), but I think some of the conclusions and patterns are applicable to our country as well.
What the OECD found is that 5% of bribery cases and 11% of the total value of bribes involve government ministers.
Applying some simple math and using figures from D. A. Medvedev, who said that 1 trillion rubles are embezzled every year in public procurement alone, we get the following:
Russia has 32 members of the federal government, and they account for 11% of the total value of bribes in public procurement. That comes to almost 3.5 billion rubles per person per year.
Not bad. Very not bad.
Sorry, but here I am again with my favorite topic: illicit enrichment. That is precisely why Article 20 must be ratified: sooner or later, we will find all these billions of rubles received by ministers as bribes—whether in their own possession or that of their relatives.
Most likely, we will never be able to find out or prove who exactly paid them these bribes. That is precisely why the mere discovery of money of unknown origin should be considered grounds for opening a criminal case. After all, illicit enrichment is a crime.
That is why we need to vote for our bill right now. Yes, I understand how deeply discouraging and demoralizing the reports of stolen votes are. But we knew they would do this. So we must not back down—we must keep pressing. We need to urge our acquaintances and friends even more actively to cast their votes.
We need this law just as badly as they do not want it. It is a question of who prevails. We must be stronger.