Transparency International issued its Corruption Perceptions Index 2002 for 102 countries on Wednesday. The countries of central, eastern and southeastern Europe were ranked, from best to worst, as follows: Slovenia (27th); Estonia (29th); Hungary (33rd); Belarus and Lithuania (tied at 36th); Poland and Bulgaria (tied at 45th); Croatia (51st); Czech Republic, Latvia, and Slovakia (tied at 52nd); Romania (77th); Albania (81st); Ukraine (85th) and Moldova (93rd).

(NewsBase 02.ix.02)