Whatever successes are claimed by the Government in the fight against corruption, the extent to which the way procedures are hijacked by those who offer bribes and those who accept continues to be disturbing.
In recent days, Transparency Internationals Global Corruption Barometer 2007 said that political parties and the judicial system shared top place in corruption in Bulgaria.
While such surveys are based on public perceptions, it is notable that it was possible to compile a table of average sums paid. According to the report, with a national average bribe in Bulgaria coming in at 71 euro, the top rate goes to judges, at 160 euro, followed by 140 euro for doctors and 60 for teachers.
Responding to the survey, the chairperson of Parliaments committee against corruption Boiko Velikov told a Bulgarian-language newspaper that his committee had passed on to prosecutors 300 tip-offs about corruption. These allegations were forwarded irrespective of who was alleged to be involved, he said. The list, according to Velikov, included Cabinet ministers, regional governors, mayors and other senior public office-bearers.
At very least, it is clear that reform of the administration continues to be much more than a matter of improving efficiency and productivity. While various ministers in recent months have boasted of officials having been dismissed because they were found to be corrupt, much remains to be done to cleanse the administration.
Allegations of corruption made against office-bearers as senior as Cabinet ministers would, of course, have to be dealt with at political level.
This is not to deny that any progress has been made, but the case reported on the front page of this issue of this newspaper appears to show that serious abuses continue. In this case, the hijacking of a companys court registration, a feat that it is difficult to imagine could have been achieved without the collusion of officials. It appears that the alleged hijackers targeted the company specifically because it involves foreigners not able to easily monitor such processes, and that the case may not be an isolated one. Apart from the intrinsic criminality of fraudulently interfering with the registration of a company, it is arguably worse that the victims were foreigners, specifically because incidents such as these reinforce perceptions among foreign investors that they should tread warily in considering any involvement in Bulgaria.
It seems ironic that in a country where first class investor certificates are issued to companies bringing major investments, to assist clearing away red tape, there are officials quite prepared to join in abusing the system of bureaucracy for their own personal enrichment.
In the case reported this week, those who were targeted have paid tribute to the speedy and determined reaction of law enforcement officials to whom the case was reported. This, at least, goes some way to preventing the perception that corruption or at very least unwillingness to assist is endemic throughout all of Bulgarias officialdom.
As in all such cases, it is to be hoped that the investigation and prosecution will be thorough and swift, and very public, and that the alleged perpetrators face charges on all such cases in which they may be found to have been involved. Any officials found to have accepted inducements to assist in crimes should similarly be made examples of. It is crucially important to send a message, and not just to get a favourable mention in the next round of reports compiled on corruption in Bulgaria.
