4 minute read
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. Transparency International has published the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2014. Armenia’s CPI this year’s score is 37 and it improved by 1 point compared to 2013. It currently shares 94-99th places in the ranking table.
Like in the previous years, Armenia is still ahead of its two other neighbors – Azerbaijan (29) and Iran (27). At the same time, Armenia, like in previous years, is ahead of all other former Soviet republics, except Baltic states and Georgia, including the members of the Eurasian Union, namely, Russia (27), Belarus (31) and Kazakhstan (29). Similar to the previous years, Estonia remains the leader among post-Communist countries with CPI Score equal to 69 (in 2013 it was 68) and it shares 26-28th positions with France and Qatar in the ranking table.
Denmark (92), New Zealand (91) and Finland (89) appear on the top three positions this year. North Korea and Somali (each having 8 points) are rated as the most corrupt countries on this year’s index.
The scores of several countries rose or fell by four points or more. The biggest falls were in Turkey (-5), Angola, China, Malawi and Rwanda (all -4). The biggest improvers were Côte d´Ivoire, Egypt, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (+5), Afghanistan, Jordan, Mali and Swaziland (+4).
The Corruption Perceptions Index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption. Countries’ scores can help the public to hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs.
China’s score fell to 36 in 2014 from 40 in 2013, despite the fact the Chinese government launched an anti-corruption campaign targeting corrupt public officials. The government has recognized the need to follow officials who hide ill-gotten gains overseas. This January, leaked documents revealed 22,000 offshore clients from China and Hong Kong, including many of the country’s leaders.
Corruption and money laundering are also problems for the other BRIC countries. This year has seen questions raised related to a major oil company using secret companies to bribe politicians in Brazil (which scores 43), questions about Indians (38) using bank accounts in Mauritius (54) and Russians (27) doing the same in Cyprus (63).
While top performer Denmark has strong rule of law, support for civil society and clear rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions, it also set an example this November, announcing plans to create a public register including beneficial ownership information for all companies incorporated in Denmark. This measure, similar to those announced by Ukraine and the UK, will make it harder for the corrupt to hide behind companies registered in another person’s name.
“None of us would fly on planes that do not register passengers, yet we allow secret companies to conceal illegal activity. Public registers that show who really owns a company would make it harder for the corrupt to take off with the spoils of their abuse of power,” said Transparency International Managing Director Cobus de Swardt.