A press conference was held on June 10, 2003, at the Conference Hall of the Center for the Study of Democracy. At the press conference, organized by Coalition 2000, Mr. Alexander Stoyanov, Director of Vitosha Research, announced and commented on the corruption indexes of the business-sector for March 2003 and the general public for May 2003.
According to 55 % of the business sector representatives, corruption is the most important problem of society. Businessmen are involved more frequently in corruption deals, compared to the general public. The fact is proved by the survey of the general public, which shows that corruption is the fourth most important problem of the society after unemployment, low incomes and poverty.
 As for the average monthly frequency of corruption deals which businessmen were involved in, the number of actually made corruption deals is considerably lower compared to October 2000, amounting to 3800 deals in December 2002 and 4050 deals in March 2003.
The following public services are mostly connected with illegal payments: 10,7 % of businessmen had to pay illegally for getting a license or permit, 7,6 % of businessmen for getting a telephone number and 6,7 % of businessmen for receiving a bank credit.
More than 1/3 of businessmen stated that they had obtained public procurements thanks to paying a bribe, amounting to 3-10 % of the transaction cost.
 The surveys of the general public, conducted in the beginning of May 2003, show that the number of citizens involved in corruption deals is 87 770 or 1,37 % of the adult population, which is 3000 less than in the beginning of the year. The direct or indirect corruption pressure put on citizens to offer money, gifts or favours in order to solve their personal problems is also declining. One of every three bribes, which is asked for, is actually paid.
The decreasing corruption pressure from public officials on citizens and the lower number of corruption deals are influencing the public perception and evaluation of the government’s actions in the fight against corruption. The population praises the government’s efforts more and a smaller number of people think that the government is doing nothing against corruption.
According to the people’s attitudes, formed mainly under the influence of the media, corruption is most widely spread in the customs (according to 50 % of the population), in the judiciary (according to 43 % of the population), in the different services of the Ministry of Interior (according to 30,6 % of the population) and in the healthcare (according to 27,6 % of population).
Despite the high level of spread of corruption and its proved practical effectiveness, corruption is still considered not to be an acceptable way of solving problems. The trend of the index of acceptability in principle is continuing its downward slope during the last six months. Nevertheless, the index of susceptibility to corruption shows a slightly upward trend. The juxtaposition of these two indicators proves that people still consider corruption a “necessary evil”.
Corruption indexes, general public - May,
2003 (PDF, in Bulgairan only)
Corruption indexes, business sector - March,
2003 (PDF)
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Results from previous business sector
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