Financial Transparency Coalition

Kyrgyzstan is a country that has long been riddled with corruption. Endemic graft and nepotism was a major factor in the 2010 revolution that the country underwent, and attempts by the government to tamp down corruption have been largely unsuccessful since. The country completely disbanded the Finance Police, who used to be their anti-corruption watchdog. In a unique exercise in transparency, Kyrgyzstan will this week be broadcasting the entrance exam for a new anti-corruption agency on live television.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has just adopted its first evaluation report of Russia’s implementation and enforcement of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (OECD Anti-Bribery Convention). The Working Group on Bribery notes that some concerns remain in Russia’s legislation for fighting foreign bribery that will need to be further reviewed during Phase 2.

Russia today took a major step toward upholding international anti-bribery standards by depositing its instrument of accession to the OECD Convention at a ceremony at the OECD in Paris. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría received Russia’s instrument of accession from First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Denisov and First Deputy Minister of Justice Fedorov. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría received Russia’s instrument of accession from First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Denisov and First Deputy Minister of Justice Fedorov.

Foreign bribery in Russiais a huge problem for the country’s economy. Investors are threatening to flee in droves in the face of ever increasing official depravity and the tightening of domestic laws on bribery abroad. Transparency International estimates that the total annual amount paid in bribes inRussia is worth $300 billion—equivalent to the GDP of Denmark. Global Financial Integrity estimates that the country lost an average $47 billion in illicit financial flows per year, a number which money transferred abroad stemming from tax evasion, corruption, and trade mispricing. Corruption has become an endemic characteristic of Russia’s public sector....