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ARC: Romania recorded no significant progress in the fight against corruption in 2004-2010
The World Bank's Control of Corruption indicator does not reveal any significant progress in Romania's fight against corruption in 2004-2010, and Romania is still lagging behind European Union candidates such as Croatia and Turkey, and is bringing up the rear of the EU newcomers, Director of the Academic Society of Romania and member of the Alliance for a Clean Romania (ARC) Alina Mungiu-Pippidi said on Monday.
'The Alliance for a Clean Romania is concerned about answering to the question that is on our mind: what is there beyond the corruption perception indicators? The World Bank's indicator, which is the best such indicator, shows Romania has not made any breakthrough in its fight against corruption starting in 2004. This is highly worrying. We have tried to find other kinds of real indicators that are not based on mere perception, which would allow us to see whether Romania made real progress from 2004 to 2010,' Mungiu-Pippidi told a news conference.
She added that corruption is 'like a social equilibrium that is established against the ratio of resources (made up of discretionary powers and material resources) to (legal and normative) constraints.'
'If we take a look at each indicator we see that as far as the constraining power is concerned, in 2010 only 5 customs officers were dismissed, while complaints for bribe taking had been filed against 700 customs officers, but they were not subjected to disciplinary consignment. Less than a third of the ministries did not draw up activity reports. The prime minister cannot control a government if the ministries fail to draw up their activity reports,' Mungiu-Pippidi said.
In relation to the material resources, she said the weight of state-owned enterprises diminished since 2004, but the weight of public procurement increased, and public procurement is prone to corruption.
Another indicator, said Mungiu-Pippidi, could be established by comparing the Romanian companies and foreign companies operating in the construction industry of Romania. The profit of foreign companies plummeted, for instance in the case of Astaldi and Bechtel, while Romanian companies posted huge profits, with Spedition UMB, owned by Dorinel Umbrarescu; Euroconstruct, owned by Dan Besciu and Sorin Vulpescu; PA&CO International owned by Costel Casuneanu and Romstrade owned by Nelu Iordache topping the rankings.
'There are indications that Romanian companies are favoured to the detriment of European companies,' said Mungiu-Pippidi. A case to the point, she said, is Hidroelectrica, which in 2010 alone lost RON 1 billion in contracts she claimed were concluded with 'the smart alecks of the energy industry.'
As regards the constraints, the World Bank indicators show there were no spectacular developments in that there was no significant increase in the number of corruption files built by the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) prosecutors, but the quality of people under investigation did reach higher levels, Agerpres informs.