February 11, 2003
Prof. Georgi Petkanov, Minister of
Interior
Ladies and gentlemen, Your Excellencies, dear
guests! A worthy tradition is emerging for Coalition 2000 to
organize and conduct a policy forum with international
participation dedicated to a problem of extremely important social
implications such as the fight against corruption.
Corruption is a problem faced by every society and
every state and the fight against its various manifestations is a
challenge to the politicians as well as the state administration,
the courts and the law-enforcement authorities. World experience
shows that the most successful approach to countering corruption is
one where political will is combined with adequate resources and
immediate involvement of the structures of civil society.
In the period of transition to market economy the
rise of corruption has rightly become cause for serious concern to
the Bulgarian public. In response, the present government has
adopted important anti-corruption documents during its term -
National Strategy to Fight Corruption, adopted by decree of the
Council of Ministers in October 2001 and the related implementation
program. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has developed its own
anti-corruption program. These documents have laid the foundations
for a more successful and effective counteraction of corruption.
The goals and priorities, as well as the specific tasks, have now
been set. The proper structures have been created within public
administration for the implementation of joint activities with the
competent institutions in this country.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is fully aware of
the importance of interaction with non-governmental organizations.
We realize that our efforts would not be effective enough without
the involvement of the citizens, of the structures of civil
society, without active public support for the measures against
organized crime and corruption.
What are the more notable conclusions reached by the
Ministry of Internal Affairs at this stage?
Despite the measures taken, the situation with the
counteraction of corruption is still problematical. Acts of
corruption are becoming ever more closely associated with organized
crime and economic crimes. The attempts of organized criminal
groups to establish contact with officials from government bodies
and the local administration persist. So do their efforts to
conquer new permanent positions in legitimate business and to take
part in privatization. There is a persistent tendency to legalize
capital acquired from criminal activity and relocate it to the
sphere of the economy - by buying enterprises, investing in the
entertainment and gaming industries, in the hotel business, etc.
These operations of organized crime take place mainly by way of
corrupting the officials authorized to issue the respective
licenses and permits.
The acceptance of bribes is still common among those
working in the fields of finances, education, healthcare, and the
local administration.
The elusive and covert nature of this phenomenon
heightens the risk of proliferation of corruption at all
hierarchical levels of state authorities.
In 2002 the services of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs exposed 1903 cases of criminal breach of trust and 63 cases
of bribery. Breach of trust crimes rank third by relative share in
economic crimes, amounting to 13.4%, and are commonly associated
with corruption, whereas bribes make up an insignificant relative
share - merely 0.5% of these crimes.
There are continuing attempts by structures of the
gray economy and organized criminal groups to exert corruption
pressure over officials from various divisions of the Ministry of
Internal Affairs.
With a view to raising the operational efficiency of
the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the specialized anti-corruption
units are still the target of institution and capacity-building
efforts. Control and disciplinary action have been reinforced as
regards cases of abuse of office on the part of Ministry of
Internal Affairs officials. There is closer interaction between the
structures of the Ministry and the other state control bodies and
the mass media.
In order to ensure successful government policy
implementation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has developed a
Strategy to Fight Crime, which has served as the basis for the
elaboration of the National Strategy. It lays down a complex set of
measures to curb the activity of organized criminal groups and
counteract corruption.
The Strategy is essentially aimed at countering
financial, economic, and high-technology crimes, money laundering,
and corruption.
The results of the measures taken so far to curb and
fight corruption have been assessed favorably. The preliminary
analysis of the Transparency without Borders Association, conducted
on the basis of the standard corruption index, notes considerable
improvement in terms of the rate of corruption in 2002. The
analysis presents Bulgaria as the only country from Central and
East Europe, and more specifically among EU applicant countries, to
have made significant progress in countering corrupt practices and
corruption-related crime, with the indicators improving each
successive year. While it ranked 52nd in 2000, Bulgaria has moved
up to the 45th place, with an index of 4.00, together with Brazil,
Peru, and Poland.
It has been noted that Bulgaria is drawing closer to the countries
characterized by an average rate of corruption - Greece, Portugal
(as EU member countries) and some countries from the first group to
accede to the European Union - Hungary and Lithuania.
In our opinion, this favorable evaluation is the
outcome of the actions of both the government and law-enforcement
authorities and of society as a whole, as represented by the
non-governmental organizations, the media, and the business
community. Due credit should also be given to the international
organizations that have been supporting actively the
anti-corruption measures implemented in this country. All of this
should encourage us but not put us at rest. There is a call for a
lot more efforts and perseverance before we reduce this negative
phenomenon to a minimum and finally achieve lasting success.
|