CORRUPTION-DISCUSSION

Sofia, January 30 (BTA) - The Interior Ministry and the
Corruption Prevention and Control Commission received 8,500
reports during a large-scale campaign in 2006. Of them, 240
reports were about Interior Ministry employees, Interior
Minister Roumen Petkov said at Tuesday's discussion on
"Monitoring of Anti-Corruption Reform in Bulgaria", organized by
the Center for the Study of Democracy and Vitosha Research with
support from the US Agency for International Development.

Petkov said work had been completed on 100 of the 240 cases
concerning Interior Ministry officers. Forty reports were
confirmed and appropriate measures were taken, and work is under
way on the remainder. The reports concerning employees of other
departments were submitted to the Council of Ministers' chief
inspectorates and the inspectorates of the respective
departments.

Petkov stressed this was the best result achieved in recent
years thanks to the exceptional support of the NGO sector,
employers' organizations and the media.

Petkov said that curbing corruption was turning into a criterion
for every new democracy's maturity. The successful combating of
corruption is a precondition for optimal absorption of EU
funding, needed to step up the new member states' socioeconomic
development, he said.

The introduction of indicators for assessment of the
implementation of the Transparent Governance Strategy and for
corruption prevention and control in 2006-2008 will provide an
objective assessment not just of the corruption situation but of
anti-corruption reform as well. The system of indicators not
only makes it easier to get an adequate assessment of the
government's performance, but also allows to better outline the
parameters of transparent governance, Petkov said. He believes
that the introduction of contemporary standards in
administrative services will restrict corruption pressure.

Vitosha Research cited data on the spread and dynamics of
corruption in Bulgaria's business sector, showing that real
corruption in business-administration relations fell early in
2007. Business representatives still believe that corruption
remains relatively widely spread. However, they perceive that
its level in the administration (predominantly Customs, police
and tax authorities) is falling, while corruption in the
political elite remains unchanged or is growing. Corruption
expectations are sliding down, but businesses remain sceptical
about the government's ability to cope with the problem,
especially in the upper echelons of power.

Judging from experience, the best tool in the fight against
corruption are the local communities working with NGOs, which
can urge political leaders to take responsibility, said the US
Deputy Chief of Mission Alexander Karagiannis. He also said that
now that Bulgaria had joined the EU, it would be subject to
much stricter monitoring. The State should live up to the common
expectations, as well as to its citizens' expectations.

Fighting corruption and increased transparency are of key
importance to Bulgarian and foreign investors, Karagiannis said.
He voiced expectations for the government and the public to
carry on reforms so as to enhance responsibility at all levels
of the public and private sectors.

World companies would like to see transparency and a possibility
to rely on justice and the rule of law, Karagiannis said. He
said there were serious reports on corruption in Bulgaria,
companies complained that they had to pay bribes to get
licences, and the judiciary was ineffective. When such things
are said about economic sectors, ministries and specific places,
potential investors will go to invest elsewhere, according to
the diplomat. BTA
Source: BTA