Russian prime minister does not trust in Transparency International ratings
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov promised that a special federal law on combating corruption will be passed in the near future.
Together with existing working of Rosfinmonitoring (Russian financial intelligence) this will allow decreasing significantly the level of corruption in Russia. "In the new structure of the government I enclosed the Rosfinmonitoring to the government, to be more precise, on myself. It is right, because this powerful organ can help passing a law on corruption and such a law will certainly appear, if not now, then in the near future," Zubkov said.
He stressed that Russia needs such a law. Commenting on data of the international corruption watchdog Transparency International, Zubkov noted that he did not trust in such ratings as he was not sure they were precise enough. According to the most recent TI ratings, Russia is taking the 143rd place in the world sharing it with countries like Gambia, Indonesia and Togo. "I do not trust that much in such ratings, they are not precise enough," the prime minister announced. "What is the method? Who can say precisely how many corrupt individuals in a country are and what the amounts are?" According to him, "it is hard to calculate" such data.
The TI ratings measure the level of perception of corruption by businessmen and analysts. "Partnering with civil society and citizens is another essential strategy for developing countries seeking to strengthen the accountability of government. Civil society organizations play a vital watchdog role, can help stimulate demand for reform and also bring in expertise on technical issues," said Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of Transparency International.
"But, increasingly, many governments are moving to restrict the operating space of civil society," he noted.
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