Widespread acceptance of bribery among Russian border authorities
Finnish companies incur massive costs over corruption in Russia
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According to a Finnish-Russian survey on corruption on the border between the two countries, a large proportion of officials working on the Russian side of the border say that in certain situations, they would approve of taking bribes. These situations include factors such as a low standard of living among the border officials, and a need of money to provide children with food.
The study involved interviews with both Russian and Finnish officials in Finland and Russian Karelia. The study also reveals that corruption on the Russian side costs Finnish companies large sums of money each year; transport companies incur an a average of more than EUR 50,000 a year in expenses stemming from corruption; in some cases, the costs can be as high as several hundred thousand euros.
Officials in both countries attribute the proliferation of corruption on the Russian side to the Russians’ low pay and weak social benefits.
Both Russian and Finnish officials take a mainly negative view of corruption. However, there are vast differences in opinion on what kinds of acts actually constitute corruption.
All of the Finnish civil servants who were interviewed for the survey denounced the use of a person’s official positions for personal benefit.
Officials on both sides said that their experiences of dealing with officials on the other side of the border were primarily positive.
One indication of the extent of shady activities in cross-border trade is in statistics, which indicate the value of Finnish goods imported into Russia from Finland to be much smaller than that of goods exported from Finland to Russia, says researcher Martti Lehti.
“The value of the goods amazingly declines at the border”, notes researcher Martti Lehti.
At one border station on the Russian side, customs officials are estimated to earn at least EUR 2 million a year by charging unauthorised fees.
Finnish businesspeople take a sharply negative view of corruption - mainly in principle. However, the overall feeling is one of resignation; corruption in Russia is seen to be so widespread that many see it as an unavoidable business expense.
Representatives of Russian companies felt that corruption is a way to solve problems with officials in order to get a decision that suits them.
Both Finnish and Russian officials said that they had no experiences of corruption by officials on the Finnish side, says researcher Minna Viuhko.
Russian officials did not report any personal experiences of corruption by other Russian officials, but they do believe that it exists.
Viuhko says that Russian lorry drivers will sometimes wait on the Finnish side until a familiar Russian customs officer appears on the other side, making border formalities run more smoothly.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 20.10.2009 - TODAY |
 Widespread acceptance of bribery among Russian border authorities
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