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Russia

Power in Russia is more than power

Power in Russia is more than power

As everyone knows, power in Russia is more than power and, therefore, the corruption of our officials is a widespread and inclusive phenomenon. The Public Chamber under the Russian President has concluded in its report on corruption in Russia that corruption in the country has reached such proportions that it threatens public order. If in the near future no drastic measures were taken, then, according to experts, a consolidated corruption scheme with the objective of forming a new socio-economic formation based solely on the enrichment of a small part of society at the expense of the majority in the territory of Russia would prevail.
 
The reasons for this phenomenon lie in the sad Russian tradition ("They steal!"), in the moral decline of the society, and in the absence of educational work. Since the territory of Russia is enormous, corruption is spread unevenly across the regions. The richer the regions, the greater the extent of corruption. Therefore, according to the General Prosecutor's Office, Moscow comes first in Russia's corruption ranking. Only over the previous year, according to the same Prosecutor General's Office, corruption in Moscow (and in the Moscow region) grew by more than 10%.
 
Why Moscow officials are most corrupt? First of all, Moscow has concentrated significant resources (budget, land, etc.) which are managed by the metropolitan bureaucracy. Secondly, the roots of the problem lie in the system of power in Moscow, created by the former Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov.
 
The pie, shared by the officials in Moscow, is worth more than $30 billion. However, this amount was just the targeted profit of the metropolitan budget for 2010. Huge financial flows get eventually diverted into the shadows.
 
The most corrupt branch is, as usual, the construction sector. According to the expert group of the public Anti-Corruption Committee, last year alone, Moscow’s officials earned not less than 200 billion rubles on the Muscovites who are sitting on the waiting list for housing. How? It is as easy as ABC. In the past year, more than 4 million square meters of housing were built in the capital. 40% of them were transferred to the Moscow authorities. Since the newly built housing in Moscow is mostly elite, people on the waiting list naturally do not get it. And these square meters are sold then at commercial prices through intermediary companies supervised by the same metropolitan officials. As a result, the waiting list folks are offered apartments outside the city in the Moscow region.
 
How much do officials gain from the notorious infill development? This should be the subject of a separate investigation of the competent authorities. In any case, the construction business of ex-mayor’s wife Elena Baturina has turned her from an ordinary businesswoman into the richest lady in Russia, who eventually added to the Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires.
 
Other violations often practiced by officials in Moscow include entering into various business organizations, receiving fees, and failure to submit returns and assets.
 
But the worst thing is that corruption in Moscow exists already at the household level, and this is the worst corruption, because it applies to all men in the street. In Moscow, corruption for ordinary people has reached colossal proportions. Practically all officials take bribes, and not just take, but demand that they be given money both officially – for some action, such as issuing certificates or making omissions, – and under the table as well. It is no secret that each government office in Moscow has some affiliated businesses that help people draw up documents, write, appeal, etc., and it is all furnished seemingly legitimately, it is all air-tight. Nobody seems to be making ordinary customers turn to these firms for assistance, but it is often just hard to do anything without them.
 
So, probably only the scrapping of the current government system in the capital can change the situation in Moscow, but for this we need the political will of the current Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and support provided to him at all levels of authority. Otherwise, the proceeds of the giant budget of the city of Moscow will be received in the future, like before, only by a narrow group of officials and businessmen where one hand is washing the other.
 
The fight against corruption in Russia should start in the Russian capital, in Moscow. We should not, of course, be expecting immediate results, as what was built over the last twenty years can not be undone in twenty days, but if we do not start today, tomorrow may be too late.

By Alexander V. Lyashenko, Doctor of Engineering
All publications by this author (2)

See also

02.06.2011 16:41 Chief Russian military medics detained for kickbacks

23.03.2011 11:15 Golikova acknowledges corruption in Russian medicine

08.02.2011 18:06 Average size of bribes in Moscow around 500 thousand rubles

01.12.2010 16:58 Assistant senator accused of traffic in lucrative appointments

24.08.2010 10:47 Prosecution makes submission to Minister of Sport Mutko