EDITORIAL: "A culture of corruption" (01/26/03)

EDITORIAL

"A culture of corruption"

On the front page of this issue, our Kyiv Press Bureau chief writes that "A culture of corruption is settling upon Ukraine." His story is about the disturbing results of a poll conducted by the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research and the Social Monitoring Center in conjunction with the United Nations Development Program.

It was troubling to learn that fully 78 percent of the survey respondents - who hailed from cities and villages throughout Ukraine - said they believe that all or most Ukrainian government officials have accepted bribes. It was troubling to read that 44 percent of those answering the survey said they themselves in the past year had paid bribes or offered "gifts" of some sort to ensure that they got some service or treatment. But it was most troubling to read that nearly a quarter of the respondents accept bribery and corruption as a "normal" part of everyday life.

"Today bribes have become the norm for society," Olha Balakirieva, director of the Social Monitoring Center, told our Kyiv correspondent Roman Woronowycz. "This is one of the phenomenon of contemporary Ukrainian society that we need to research." Oleksander Yaremenko of the Ukrainian Institute of Social Research observed that "corruption is so widespread that it is becoming institutionalized" - so much so that the people of Ukraine can no longer determine what is a bribe. And, what's worse, these bribes are paid to everyone: government employees, medical workers, traffic police, educators. Want to make sure you get good medical care? A little "gift" will help. Want your child to get good grades? Try a token of appreciation for the teachers. Need to have something fixed in your apartment? A little extra something for the handyman ought to do it. Trying to get some sort of government document with the ever-necessary "pechatka" (stamp)? Don't forget to bring a small reward.

It is, indeed, a warped society - perverted and debased by decades of Soviet communism, a system in which the party controlled all aspects of life and party favorites got all the benefits. And, the people believe the government is incapable of change.

At least one U.S.-government-funded entity is trying to change this grim reality. The Partnership for a Transparent Society is trying to teach Ukrainians that corruption does not need to be part of their everyday lives. The Weekly's former colleague, Marta Kolomayets, who is director of the program, said her group seeks to inform citizens about their rights and to organize groups that fight corruption. PTS has already opened seven regional offices (with another four soon to come), whose task is to help the public with advice on how to deal with problems related to corruption.

Ms Kolomayets sounded a hopeful note when she told Askold Krushelnycky of RFE/RL: "...we have been able to work as partners with local and state government bodies and their departments. I think that this shows something is changing and that officials are prepared to listen to the opinions of the community, to people's thoughts, and to incorporate them in their work." Svetlana Yaremenko from Donetsk said it "is important to instill that everyone personally should do something [about corruption] and that only through a united effort can we defeat this phenomenon."

What is most important, according to Ms. Kolomayets - and we most emphatically concur - is for the people of Ukraine to understand that they do have power and that with this power they can fight the system, they can change Ukraine for the better, they can put an end to the "culture of corruption."

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