Transparency International: Georgia is Leader in Region in Terms of Low Corruption Rate

Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Transparency International (TI) Georgia presented the results of the Global Corruption Barometer 2016, which revealed that Georgia is the regional leader for a low rate of corruption.

According to TI Georgia Executive Director Eka Gigauri, the reforms implemented in Georgia in the past are still effectively working against corruption now, but challenges remain.

“While, generally, our citizens do not have to pay bribes anymore, there are some negative tendencies, particularly the government's anti-corruption steps which are assessed negatively. We have received recommendations related to prosecution and judicial independence. Furthermore, we need to set up an independent anti-corruption service,” Gigauri stated.

The new Transparency International report ‘People and Corruption: Europe and Central Asia’ says that they spoke to nearly 60,000 citizens in 42 countries in Europe and Central Asia about their daily life experiences with corruption. The report was presented in Berlin, Germany, on November 16.

The survey was conducted by the head office of the TI and its findings show that over half the people in European Union (EU) countries (53 percent), EU accession candidate countries (53 percent) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and former Soviet Union countries, (56 percent) said their governments had failed to curb corruption. The governments of Ukraine (86 percent), Moldova (84 percent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (82 percent), and Spain (80 percent) were judged worst by their citizens.

According to the survey, 12 percent of Georgian respondents named corruption among the country's three main problems.

“Corruption is a significant problem all across the Europe and Central Asia region,” said José Ugaz, Chair of Transparency International. “In EU countries, many citizens see how the wealthy and those in government distort the system to their advantage.”

Transparency International makes four key recommendations to reduce political corruption and help people speak up without fear of retaliation.

Governments across Europe and Central Asia should:

• Have transparent rules on lobbying and a public lobbying register, so that policy decisions can be better scrutinized;

• Ensure the independence of the judiciary, particularly in EU accession and CIS countries, by reducing the influence of the executive over the judiciary and prosecutorial services and including transparent and objective systems for the appointment, transferal and dismissal of judges and prosecutors;

• Adopt and enforce comprehensive legislation to protect whistleblowers, and;

• Support whistleblowers and reporters of corruption and ensure appropriate follow-up to their disclosures.

The report revealed that households in a number of CIS countries are at high risk of having to pay bribes to access basic public services. In Azerbaijan, Kyrgyz Republic, Ukraine and Moldova around two in five households who had accessed public services paid a bribe (from 38 to 42 percent) and this rises to 50 percent in Tajikistan.

“Georgia, however, is a positive exception to this trend with a bribery rate of just 7 percent, which is at least on a par with EU member states,” the survey reads.

Transparency International is a global movement with one vision: a world in which government, business, civil society and the daily lives of people are free of corruption.

Thea Morrison