Ukraine among 14 most corrupt countries around the globe (11/07/99)

Ukraine among 14 most corrupt countries around the globe

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - An international non-governmental organization that monitors levels of corruption has identified Ukraine among the 14 most corrupt countries of the world.

Transparency International, headquartered in Berlin, released its annual corruption perceptions index (CPI) on October 26, which this year rated 99 countries according to the way they are perceived by international businesses.

Ukraine came in 75th, tied with Moldova, Venezuela and Vietnam, which all had a rating of 2.6, in a 1-10 rating system, with 10 indicating no corruption. Denmark for the second year running was cited as the least corrupt country on the globe, while Nigeria and Cameroon attained the dubious distinction of being most corrupt. Canada came in fifth and the United States was listed as 18th.

Ukraine fared worse than such countries as Columbia, South Korea, India and Guatemala, although it did better than Russia, which placed 82nd.

"This is a very, very sad rating," said Mykola Poliudonii, director of Clean Hands, the international group's Ukrainian affiliate.

Mr. Poliudonii explained that Ukraine fell seven places in the last year, and that in his analysis of the report, Ukraine's drop was due to "objective reasons" and not the addition of 15 countries to the list, up from the 84 that the rating covered in 1998. He said most of the newcomers to the list were rated worse than Ukraine.

The Transparency International rating is used by many international businesses to determine the business climate in a country before making a financial investment.

Mr. Poliudonii said that Transparency International does not reveal the criteria it uses in developing its index, but notes that the rating is based on scores developed in consultation with private businesses and with other international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Although no information was available for this year, in last year's rating, reports by organizations such as the World Bank, Gallup International, the World Economic Forum and the Harvard Institute for International Development were among the sources of information utilized by the study .

Founded in 1993, Transparency International is a coalition of NGOs whose aim is to develop international standards and programs in the fight against corruption.

A separate survey conducted by Clean Hands and the Ukrainian Legal Foundation, with which it is associated, in conjunction with the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, found that 41 percent of the residents of Kyiv have been negatively affected by corruption. Some 48 percent of respondents expressed the opinion that immunity from criminal prosecution held by national deputies and local officials contributes to corruption, while 39 percent said they believe that too much authority in the hands of government officials is a factor.

The 1,006 respondents of the survey rated Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs traffic division as the most corrupt of government bodies, followed by the customs police, other ministries and government organs, the state militia as a whole and tax inspectors.

The results showed that Kyivans believe bribery is a problem at medical institutions, within the traffic division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, at universities and within local government.

Mr. Poliudonii said he does not believe Ukraine's authorities are ready to rid the government of corruption.

"The main thing needed to fight corruption is political will. Currently it does not exist," said Mr. Poliudonii.

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