DATE=12/2/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CORRUPTION
NUMBER=5-44892
BYLINE=ANDRE DE NESNERA
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
// Eds: This is the fourth in an eight-part series on
Russia. Issues raised in the series include the role
of the I-M-F, NATO-Russia relations and Boris
Yeltsin's legacy. //
INTRO: In the past year, much has been written and
alleged about corruption and money-laundering schemes
involving high-level Russian government officials. In
the fourth of an eight-part series on Russia, former
V-O-A Moscow correspondent Andre de Nesnera looks at
the issue of corruption in that country.
TEXT: Investigators in the United States and Europe
are continuing their probes into allegations of money-
laundering schemes involving billions of dollars
diverted from Russia.
The investigations focus on the transfer to the United
States of huge sums of money suspected of coming from
Russian organized crime groups. In early October,
three Russian immigrants and the companies they
control were indicted in New York - the first criminal
charges stemming from a probe of possible money-
laundering at the Bank of New York, which was not
named in the indictment.
Analysts say the current investigations are just the
tip of the iceberg. But they point out such probes do
not address the fundamental questions about the extent
of corruption in Russia and what should be done to
curtail it?
Paul Saunders from the (Washington-based) Nixon Center
research organization, says corruption in Russia
affects practically everyone in the country.
/// SAUNDERS ACT ///
Not only at the level of senior government
officials, but also at the level of the very
lowest bureaucrat, police officer - just
everyone in society. To me, it seems like that
is the most difficult thing about it - for
people who live in Russia - is that it is just a
daily fact of life. It is just pushed into your
face all day long, everywhere you go. If you are
shaken down by a police officer to pay some fine
for something that you did not do - or the
office that you are working at is paying
protection money to some organized crime gang -
or you need to pay some low official to get your
business license renewed - it just permeates
every sector of society.
/// END ACT ///
The allegations of high-level corruption go all the
way up to President Boris Yeltin's family and close
entourage. The accusations stem from reports Mr.
Yeltsin and members of his family received bribes from
the Swiss "Mabetex" engineering firm in exchange for
lucrative construction projects in the Kremlin. Mr.
Yeltsin has denied those allegations - and rejected
claims that he and his relatives have accounts in
Swiss banks.
But some analysts, such as Mike McFaul from the
Carnegie Institute, say it is unfair to single out
Russia for engaging in corrupt practices, when such
practices are widespread - including in the West.
/// McFAUL ACT ///
There is corruption all over the world, every
day, all the time. And let us not forget: for
instance, in the "Mabetex" scandal, allegedly
between Yeltsin's family and this company in
Switzerland, that the Swiss are just as corrupt
as the Russians in this. All the headlines in
the West are the "Russian corruption scandal."
But it wasn't the Russians paying those bribes.
It was the Swiss. And there seems to me to be a
real double standard here in the way that we
look at this question. It is as if the Swiss
are naive and innocent and the Russians are
nasty because they take the bribes.
/// END ACT ///
Many analysts say the fight against corruption in
Russia can only succeed if the country's top
leadership addresses the problem.
Candoleeza Rice - senior policy adviser to
presidential hopeful George Bush - believes next
year's presidential election offers Russians a chance
to choose a leader who is - above all - devoted to the
people.
/// RICE ACT ///
The most important thing in this next
presidential election is that the Russians find
a way to elect someone who clearly represents
what we would call the spirit of public service:
that is that you do not go into public service
to enrich yourself, you go into public service
to try to make the country better. And I think
that there is right now a lack of faith that
those kinds of people exist. I am sure that they
do in Russia and it is important that they step
up.
/// END ACT ///
But other analysts say it will be hard to combat
corruption in Russia, since it has become ingrained in
the daily life of even ordinary citizens. They say
corruption was part of the Soviet system for decades.
And as one analyst put it - "Old habits die hard."
(Signed)
NEB/ADEN/KL
02-Dec-1999 14:18 PM EDT (02-Dec-1999 1918 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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