Transparency International (TI), an international NGO dedicated to the battle against corruption, released its "Corruption Perceptions Index 2002" ("CPI") on 28 August in Berlin.

TI describes the "CPI" in the following terms: "The goal of the CPI is to provide data on extensive perceptions of corruption within countries. The CPI is a composite index, making use of surveys of businesspeople and assessments by country analysts. It consists of credible sources using diverse sampling frames and different methodologies. These perceptions enhance our understanding of real levels of corruption from one country to another" (see www.transparency.org).

According to TI Chairman Peter Eigen: "Politicians increasingly pay lip-service to the fight against corruption but they fail to act on the clear message of TI's CPI: that they must clamp down on corruption to break the vicious circle of poverty and graft. Seven out of ten countries score less than 5 out of a clean score of 10 in the CPI 2002, which reflects perceived levels of corruption among politicians and public officials."

Addressing the problem of corruption in the former Soviet Union, Eigen added: "The recent steps by President Vladimir Putin to introduce tax reforms and new laws fighting money-laundering are beginning to show the prospect of a lessening in perceived corruption in Russia, but the CPI 2002 indicates that Russia has a long way to go and remains seriously corrupt, together with Uzbekistan, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Azerbaijan, all of which score less than 3 out of 10."

The Czech Republic was rated 52nd with a score of 3.7, on the same level as Slovakia, Sri Lanka and Latvia. Poland and Bulgaria each had a score of 4.0. Bangladesh was perceived to be the most corrupt country in the world with a score of 1.2. The least corrupt was deemed to be Finland with a score of 9.7.

(RFE/RL 06.ix.02)