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  • In 2014, Transparency International listed Russia as one of the most corrupt developed

  • nations in the world, ranked below countries like Nigeria and Iran. To address the issue,

  • Russian leaders have laid out national anti-corruption plans, but so far theyve had varied amounts

  • of success. So how corrupt is Russia?

  • Well, several experts have pointed to corruption in Russia as being embedded in its history

  • and culture. Bribery has been seen as a common occurrence even for high ranking officials.

  • This cultural normalization of bribery may have begun around the 16th century when state

  • officials were often not given a salary, and instead encouraged to take gifts of food and

  • favors from their constituents. These gifts were necessary when the princes of Russia

  • didn’t have much money to pay the officials.

  • One economist says that Russian corruptionhas become a business." Today, bribery

  • is so rampant that the country’s economy is heavily dependent on the flow of illegitimate

  • funds. One reporter for the Associated Press explained that it took her a year to obtain

  • a driver’s license because she refused to pay any bribes. In 2007, the World Bank estimated

  • that Russia’s shadow economy accounted for nearly half of national GDP. And a Russian

  • Finance Minister recently alleged that the state loses $90 billion dollars in taxes because

  • businesses hide large portions of their profits.

  • Russia’s Leader Vladimir Putin has made a big show of trying to root out corruption.

  • But after being in office for 15 years, many have said that the government is primarily

  • an oligarchy, run by Putin’s closest friends and relatives. These elite members of the

  • government are extremely wealthy, and immune from prosecution because Putin needs their

  • support. Russian politicians also wield a great deal of influence over the Russian judiciary

  • system, which, as the UN observes, adversely affects its independence.

  • Critics in the media also have their voices completely stifled by the state. Russia does

  • not have free press, and most of the media is owned by the government. Any other press

  • is forced to censor themselves or else face heavy fines and threats of imprisonment. One

  • outspoken former presidential hopeful has been alternately imprisoned and put under

  • house arrest for more than a year. For a long time he was even banned from using the internet

  • and the telephone.

  • Even with anti-corruption laws, Russian graft is out of control. Russia ranks 136th out

  • of 175 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index. And Russia also ranks last for bribery

  • out of all the G20 countries.

  • Current anti-corruption plans were first introduced in 2008, and theyve been renewed by Putin

  • over the years. These plans mandate that government officials report their incomes, and any conflicts

  • of interest between government and business. But most guilty officials still go unpunished.

  • With Russia’s government resembling an oligarchy, and their distinct lack of free press or independent

  • judiciary, nationwide corruption will undoubtedly continue, despite Vladimir Putin’s promises.

  • Russia remains a powerful country on the world stage, often butting heads with the U.S. and

  • other Western countries. To learn just how dangerous they really are, check out this

  • video from our friends at All-Time Conspiracies. Thanks for watching us today on TestTube!

  • Subscribe for new videos every day.

In 2014, Transparency International listed Russia as one of the most corrupt developed

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俄羅斯有多腐敗? (How Corrupt Is Russia?)

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    Jack 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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