The Prague Post
September 7th, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Real Estate Prague Prague Rentals Prague Apartments Prague Art & Antiques

Home » Archives » News

Corruption levels on the decrease

Yet survey says bureaucracy, enforcement are barriers

By Markéta Hulpachová
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
October 3rd, 2007 issue

Corruption in the Czech Republic may be at its lowest in a decade. So says global watchdog Transparency International (TI), whose findings ranked the country 42nd in a Sept. 26 annual report mapping the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 180 countries.
Based on the findings of 14 independent research institutions, the index seeks to determine a country’s level of political corruption by surveying local businessmen and analysts.
In TI’s 2007 report, the Czech Republic’s CPI rose from 4.8 to 5.2 since last year, an improvement from 46th to 42nd place, which it shares with Italy. The higher the CPI number, the better.
The country’s current CPI is its highest since 1997, a development that could signal the end of the “aftermath of the 1990s,” according to TI Czech Republic Chairwoman Adriana Krnáčová.
Over the past 10 years, leaders made an irresponsible transition to a market economy, neglected institutional development and ignored government reforms — a constellation of factors that raised corruption levels, she says.
Aside from continuing integration into the European Union — a positive factor in new member states, according to TI — the decrease is the result of a slew of civic and government initiatives.
The report highlights significant improvements resulting from judiciary reforms, a “conflict of interest” law and the appointment of “goal-oriented” František Dohnal to head the National Control Bureau (NKÚ), an independent state organization monitoring government finances.
Krnáčová says the country “managed to reverse the negative trend,” giving policymakers an “ideal opportunity to further reforms” in problematic fields such as public finance, corporate accountability and tenders.
According to a TI report, the organization’s method of surveying businesspeople and analysts is more reflective of the actual level of corruption in a given country than concrete data such as criminal proceedings and court cases.
Despite progress, the Czech Republic still trails far behind new member states including Slovenia and the Baltics, where deregulated business environments decrease opportunities for corruption.
According to Krnáčová, overt bureaucracy nurtures corruption in the business sphere here. “The more time businessmen have to spend filling our senseless paperwork at state bureaus, the greater the likelihood that they will try to find shortcuts around them,” she says.
Aside from overt bureaucracy, corruption levels are heightened by nontransparent transactions between the government and private investors. The ongoing sale of minority shares in state-owned energy producer ČEZ and the questionable issuance of state forest tenders continue to raise levels of corruption perception, Krnáčová says.
While the improving CPI indicates success in recent legislature, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Hana Malá agrees further provisions are needed.
“The path to decreasing corruption is to diminish the role of the government in the lives of citizens,” she says. “We’re preparing provisions to minimize state regulation, simplify legislation and de-bureaucratize.”
Prosecuting corrupt politicians also remains problematic, Krnáčová says.
In an effort to increase the accountability of public figures, the anti-corruption police recently began investigating a 2002 transaction in which former Prime Minister Stanislav Gross acquired a 300 million Kč share in electric company Moravia Energo from Robert Sýkora, a former deputy industry and trade minister.
Despite the government’s renewed interest in the case, which has stagnated for the past five years, Krnáčová remains skeptical of any wider implications.
“The fact that state organs have decided to get involved in [Gross’] case is nothing new,” she says. “Similar efforts have been made in the past, and the results have been questionable.”
Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at
mhulpachova@praguepost.com

Markéta Hulpachová can be reached at mhulpachova@praguepost.com


Other articles in News (3/10/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.