27 Oct 2010 / 09:14
Bulgarians continue to see graft as a common problem in their everyday lives, as the country again ranks near the top of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for European states.
Boryana Dzhambazova
“Everyone has to pay state officials to get something done here,” Hristo Fakirov, a 44-year old owner of a private firm, told Balkan Insight. He said he had been asked by government workers to pay bribes in the past.
Bulgarians continue to see graft as a common problem in their everyday lives, as the country again ranks near the top of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index for European states.
Boryana Dzhambazova
“Everyone has to pay state officials to get something done here,” Hristo Fakirov, a 44-year old owner of a private firm, told Balkan Insight. He said he had been asked by government workers to pay bribes in the past.
the government has declared that the fight against corruption and organised crime is one of its main priorities, most people interviewed by Balkan Insight see little change, echoing the findings of the 2010 corruption perception index.
Transparency International's survey, which include 178 countries, was released on Tuesday.
Transparency International's survey, which include 178 countries, was released on Tuesday.
Bulgaria, which is considered to be one of the most corrupt EU member states, is ranked the second most corrupt in the bloc with a corruption perception index (CPI) of 3.6 on a scale of 10, where 10 is “very clean” and 0 is considered “highly corrupt”.
This year the country's score worsened slightly compared to 2009, when it stood at 3.8.
Lora Kostadinova, a 21-year old waitress, told Balkan Insight that just two weeks ago her relatives were asked to pay under the table so her nephew could receive urgent medical treatment. “This is a regular practice in Bulgarian hospitals,” she explained.
“There should be some progress in the fight against corruption since we entered the EU, but in reality I don’t see any difference. Graft is still very widespread,” said 44-year-old Petar Danchev, who works for a cleaning firm.
“Corruption is everywhere – from the lowest to the highest levels in the public sector,” said Galya Boneva, 43, a tailor in Sofia.
Only Greece ranks ahead of Bulgaria in the 2010 corruption index, with a score of 3.5, while Romania’s rating is slightly better, with a CPI of 3.7.
Globally, Bulgaria was in 73rd position, sharing the ranking with countries like El Salvador, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu.The other countries in the Balkans also have CPIs below 5, the cut-off point for serious corruption problems.
“This is not good news. It shows a process of stagnating anti-corruption efforts,” said Diana Kovatcheva, executive director of the local office of Transparency International in Sofia, commenting on the results.
Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, is often criticised for failing to curb endemic corruption and organised crime and has come under financial and political pressure from Brussels to step up its efforts and crack down on graft.
balkan insight
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