Corrupt Practice of Establishment

On July, 26th, 2009 the president of the Russian Federation in the interview to the TV-channel NTV said rather remarkable phrase: "While they would think about Russia as about the country where there's extremely high level of corruption, we will be treated in appropriate way ..."

That is the way D.Medvedev touched upon, perhaps, the topic of the day in Russia; he didn't ascertained the presence of corruption corroding society directly, he just mentioned that many countries think about our Federation as about the state with the highest level of corruption.

What is the reason foreign countries "suddenly" acquired such bad thoughts about Russia?

Let's reject dead Latin from which translation of the word "corruption" means payoff. Various encyclopedias and lawyers treat this phenomenon categorically: "a crime consisting in direct use by the official of the rights given to him on a post with a view of personal enrichment. Payoff of officials, their bribability is also called corruption". Everything's simple; if I bribed the local policeman, both of us are - criminals. Or, for example, if oligarch bribed the member of parliament, minister, the head of the government, all this company should take its place on a dock.

In our country for incomplete seven months of the current year the damage from malfeasances and payoff is close to BILLION roubles. Such enormous loss to the state, according to the statement of the head of Investigatory committee of Office of Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation A.Bastrykin, was made basically by militiamen, customs officers, employees of Offices of Public Prosecutor, officials of institutions of local government, municipal and civil servants. That is by those our fellow citizens who make notorious vertical of the Russian authority.

In 2008 charge in bribability was showed to almost twelve thousand Russian officials who, under some data, got bribes which total sum is equal to a third of budget of Russia. These and other sad figures, probably, were mentioned last Friday at the expanded session of board of the State Office of Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, where the head of administration of the president of Russia Sergey Naryshkin made public speech. The official called public prosecutor's employees to strengthen supervision over target expenditure of finances from the state budget, to enter system of struggle against corruption. The appeal was clear and accepted but generals from Office of Public Prosecutor complained that fighters with offences revealed, basically, fine bribe takers among physicians, teachers.

It is necessary to understand that the sharks of corruption activity continue to plough confidently financial fields of the country, while law enforcement bodies using powerful state "harpoons" (if anyone can recollect how many billions population annually gives to finance struggle against criminality?) have been piercing fine sprat for many years? Mister Bastrykin, probably, by old official tradition acted with the offer on creation of uniform coordination body on struggle against corruption and raider practice. Besides, how many new "coordination" formations will be created?

Let's recollect not so far 90s years but anticorruption attempts of president Medvedev. In May of the last year he signed the decree "About Measures on Counteraction of Corruption" according to which there was created the Council on counteraction of corruption. Меdvedev himself headed that Council.

Further more. Precisely one year ago authorities pleased the society with the approval of the National plan of counteraction of corruption. Two months ago our young president ratified new "Strategy of National Safety of Russia till 2020" where the due place was occupied also by questions of struggle against payoff of officials. So on, etc.

At all this quantity of such type of malfeasances grows; thus from the beginning of 2009 the number of corruption offences increased by 50%. It's a pleasant fact, on the one hand, as the "bodies" began to reveal bribed officials more actively. But, on the other hand, the number of these villains increases and what can be good in this fact? Thye look at us in fact as at Neanderthal men from capitalism.

For example, last week the press-service of "Committee on Struggle against Corruption" (CSC) informed that Swedish company IKEA still cannot open it's trading house in Samara because of a sort of different bureaucratic delays. The head of the Russian branch of this company P.Kaufman noted that IKEA thinks to suspend completely all investment projects in Russia because of "unpredictable administrative processes". What kind of? Well, the choice of answers is rather wide.

Let's get acquainted with announcement of press-service of CSC: "Furniture giant IKEA has not sustained arbitrariness connected to bureaucracy and corruption in the Russian Federation. So, organizer of the company IKEA Ingvar Kamprad informed press that the Russian power service fraudulently stole 140 million euro - with the help of counterfeit accounts for gas and electric power. Kamprad quite clearly let know that problems of IKEA in our country proceed from the fact that the company does not want to give officials the bribe ..." I'll stress the bribes for carrying out of legal commercial activity.

However, I want to warn IKEA-employee Kamprad: be cautious in accusation of the Russian corrupted officials! "Moscow Pravda" some time ago supported citizen of Germany E.Schneider having business in Russia who tried to resist to the high-ranking Russian officials who, by words of the German, extorted large bribe from him. Attempt came to an end by long imprisonment; but it was not extortioners who were imprisoned but the German businessman ...

Well, if mister from IKEA asserting that our "masters on all hands" used false accounts for deceit of the Swedish company, cannot prove it to the investigators, I think, it is necessary to remind the Russian authorities the facts of a shadow flow of other fakes - false medical products - in the Russian Federation. This flow is being estimated not as in case with IKEA in 140 million euro; here we are talking about billions, for, according to independent experts, up to 60% of medicines which we consume - forgeries.

Under the statement of the deputy of the State Duma Anton Beljakov, " ... from the point of view of profitableness medicinal market is on the third place after sale of weapon and drugs. Under forecasts of experts, in 2010 profit from realization of false tablets in the world will make $ 75 billion". Well, there is confidence that lion's share of this dirty money will get into the pockets of numerous Russian corrupted officials, that is those officials who can be bribed and thus put an irreparable harm to the health of millions of the Russians.

... There's a struggle in Russia against corruption; officials have sessions in the Kremlin, parliamentary fractions and governmental mass-media rustle, every day cases of arrest of bribe takers from local hospitals, rural schools and housing services become known to the population of the country. But such "struggle" against corruption does not add glory to our state. On the contrary, prestige of the Russian Federation continues falling, phantom of isolation come closely to our borders. You'll agree, it's hardly possible that business can seem to be attractive in Russia where annually the distance between democratic requirements of XXI century and internal "anticorruption" policy of the Kremlin, in my opinion, increases.

Practically universal readiness of our officials and the majority of deputies to answer positively to the offer of direct or indirect payoff - precise indicator of limitation of opportunities of the modern Russian authority. To increase these opportunities is necessary to clear off the state and public institutions from corrupted officials that will allow to protect the Russians from, first of all, judicial arbitrariness, wrongful actions of militia, to exclude administrative and criminal persecutions of those who haven't agree with corruption components of the governmental course.

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