Corruption low in Finland - rampant in many EU countries

Bribery of officials most common in oil-producing countries

print this

Finnish officials and politicians have been found to take fewer bribes than their colleagues in many other countries.
      Finland was again deemed to be the least-corrupt country in an international corruption perceptions comparison published on Wednesday by the Berlin-based non-governmental organisation Transparency International.
     
All Nordic countries were among the top ten least-corrupt countries. In addition to the Nordic region, corruption was perceived to be low in New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia, and The Netherlands. The UK and the United States both finished outside the top 10, at 11th and 17th respectively. The situation was worst in Haiti, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Chad.
      Corruption also remains an issue in the EU region, however. For instance, Poland ranked 67th in the list of least corrupt countries, a position it shares with Peru and Croatia. Italy could do no better than 42nd, behind such nations as Malaysia, Tunisia, and Costa Rica (a country that has itself seen its record blemished recently in a scandal that also touched Finland). Greece finished 49th, alongside Surinam.
      Germany and France improved their positions from last year. Luxembourg and Cyprus have meanwhile experienced a sharp increase in corruption.
      Of the new EU member states, Estonia and Slovenia (=31st) are the least corrupt, while bribery is rampant in the EU applicant countries Turkey (77th) and Romania (87th).
     
The most corrupt countries include oil producers such as Angola, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, and Russia. Peter Eigen, chairman of Transparency International, says that the profits from public sector oil production in these countries are disappearing into the pockets of the managers of Western oil companies, and to those of local officials and agents.
      Eigen notes that corruption robs these countries of their prospects. Taking Iraq as an example, he noted that the country’s future depends on the transparency of its oil sector. Without tough anti-bribery action, the unequal distribution of its resources to the corrupt elite will ruin the reconstruction process.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland once again tops incorruptibles table (8.10.2003)

Links:
  Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2004

Helsingin Sanomat