{"title": "Corruption in the Balkans can be reduced to a minimum over the next decade","content": "<div class='descr'>As international commitments are assumed to adhere strictlyto anti-corruption policies, the level of corruption in theBalkans can be reduced to a minimum over the next decade,according to Frederic Wehrle, Stability Pact Anti-CorruptionInitiative Coordinator of the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development. He took part in a roundtable on corruption within theSouth-East Europe Economic Forum which opened here on Monday.The expert argued that good laws are not the only conditions tocurb corruption. He cited the example of Romania, wherecorruption is punishable by 15 years' imprisonment, compared to10 years in the US and France and 5 years in Germany. Wehrlesaid that implementation of the law requires an institutionalframework and political will. Bulgaria is most advanced amongthe countries of the region in anti-corruption legislation, theexpert said. In 1993 US companies lost 60,000 million dollarsfrom transacting with companies in Western Europe wherelegislation is more lax to bribery of foreigners, said politicalscientist Ivan Krustev of the Centre for Liberal Strategies. Atthat time, in Germany and France bribes of foreign governmentofficials were allowed as tax-deductible expense. The majorcorruption scandals, the ones in Bulgaria included, erupt aroundsmall off-shore companies which take the upper hand of the majorforeign investors. 'Those who win are not the ones who give thelargest bribe but those who know when and how to give it so thatit be accepted,' Krustev said. He also called into question theprivatization method which prioritizes price. 'Strategicinvestors rarely offer the highest price, and the properties arethus awarded to small offshore companies, he said. A couple ofweeks ago the World Bank concluded that the fight againstcorruption can hardly be expected to produce an early result,Krustev said. He does not think that such results can beachieved by just lifting licensing, authorization andregistration requirements. According to Krustev, corruption inBulgaria has already turned into an 'explanation' of thetransition - of how some people got rich in weeks and others gotpoor in months. Bulgarians have come to perceive privatisationitself as synonymous with corruption, the political scientistsaid. He warned that fighting corruption could be used as apretext for a repressive policy or become an election campaignissue. 'When the State cannot guarantee security, the politicaland economic class buys it on corruption money,' Krustev said.'If all transactions in a country are fraught with corruption,nationalization lies ahead for that country,' he added.According to Tihomir Bezlov of the Center for the Study ofDemocracy, the incidence of everyday-level bribery is decreasing.'Fearing exposure, bureaucrats take less,' Bezlov said. To makeup for it, a new form of corruption is emerging: bribe inexchange for welfare benefits.</div>"}