Moscow News
http://www.mnweekly.ru/
May 22, 2008
Half-Measures, or Is This for Real?
By Marina Pustilnik
On Monday, Russia's new president Dmitry Medvedev signed a presidential decree "On measures to counteract corruption." In accordance with this document, a special council for counteracting corruption will be established under the auspices of the presidential office. The president himself will chair the council, while the head of the presidential administration, Sergei Naryshkin, will chair the presidium. As the media reported, the principal tasks of the Council will be preparation of changes in state policy in the sphere of counteracting corruption, coordination of the relevant activities of different state bodies as well as control over implementation of measures foreseen by the national plan for counteracting corruption. The plan is supposed to be developed within a month.
Two things come to mind upon hearing this piece of news. Will Dmitry Medvedev actually try to break the corruption vertical of the Russian government (which includes all bodies of authority, not just the ministries)? And if he does, will the fight against corruption be successful? However much I would like to say "yes", the answer to both questions is probably "no."
We have to admit that we know very little about the man who was elected Russia's president. Yes, we know his official biography, yes, we've seen funny photos from his Soviet past - but do we know what he is really like? Do we know about everything that went on in Gazprom when Medvedev was its chairman? It won't be a stretch to say that Gazprom is not a perfect model of transparency. Yes, it was involved in a different sort of corruption, which probably had little to do with giving bribes, but it was corruption nonetheless - with the state-run behemoth getting all the best deals, best conditions, and a virtually uncontested monopoly on the domestic gas market and a full one on the export routes. To believe that Dmitry Medvedev would become the knight in shining armor fighting against corruption as soon as he leaves his chair at the head of Gazprom's Board of Directors may be a little naïve.
Then again, we never know. Maybe all the campaign talk about the rule of law is what Medvedev really believes. To see which point of view is closer to truth, we'll have to wait and see. But I would have to agree with an opinion that I read in someone's blog: words are nothing, actions are everything.
The answer to the second question is no less ambivalent. On the one hand, the corruption tradition (particularly, in the form of bribes) in Russia is much older than the recent Yeltsin and Putin regimes; it is actually much older than even the Soviet regime. Therefore, it's hard to believe that the roots of corruption will be weeded out if the state simply puts its mind to doing so.
On the other hand, that's like accusing all Russian people of being lazy or unwilling to pay taxes or readily submitting themselves to any "strong hand" that comes to power. I am one of those Russian people: I've never paid a bribe (at least I don't think so). How can I claim that I am the only one? Surely, there are many people in Russia who would like to see the country and its authorities finally change their ways.
But here's another thing to consider: corruption in the Russian government system is total. According to the INDEM fund, the annual corruption turnover in Russia equals $300 billion. Bribes are taken and given (in various forms) at all levels of authority. On the one hand, the fight against corruption ideally means that everyone should be tested and if found guilty fired. Not just the road police inspectors or regional officials - everyone has to be equal in front of the new system.
On the other hand, even if all of the corrupted officials are fired and new ones are hired (although it is unclear where they would come from) - nothing will change while the common perception of government work is that it pays little but gives other dividends in form of bribes, abilities to award special contracts to associated companies, etc.
To fight corruption, the authorities have to implement a system where the salaries of government officials are high - the higher the more productive they are. That and the anti-corruption mechanisms described in various legislative initiatives currently stalled in the State Duma may be capable of doing something to change the situation. Everything else is half-measures and idle talk.