Russia Country Profile

Police

Individual Corruption

The Russian police are perceived to be one of the most notoriously corrupt institutions in the country. According to First Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buskman, approximately 14% of corruption cases take place in the area of law enforcement. This is supported by the figures from the Supreme Court, according to which, 31% of the officials imprisoned on corruption charges in 2008 were from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Russia Today reports. Demand for bribes is widespread among the traffic police and patrol officers, and drivers that have been pulled over are accustomed to tucking in money with their papers when they hand them to officers. As reported by INDEM 2005, the readiness of Russian citizens to offer bribes to traffic police fell from 86% in 2001 to 68.9% in 2005. In general, INDEM 2005 reports, Russians are less prone than earlier to pay a bribe when faced with demands by public officials. Generally, however, the average amount of a bribe paid to police has increased. The average bribe to a traffic police officer in 2005 was RUB 920.

Business Corruption

The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 reveals that companies identify Russia to perform poorly in relation to the reliability of police services to protect them from crime. According to INDEM 2005, police officers are authorised to conduct check-ups on SMEs in Russia. According to a 2005 survey by CEFIR, 70% of SMEs had been harassed by several police inspections over the preceding six-month period. Arbitrary inspections by the police have also been criticised by President Medvedev, according to whom, arbitrary inspections by police officers as a way to extort bribes from small companies must halt, as reported by Reuters. Currently, police act as public health inspectors, building inspectors and tax police and can rightfully check almost anything. Businesspeople reportedly prefer to pay to get them away. Any police officer can stop a loaded truck and demand to see evidence that the goods are not stolen. If any documentation is missing, the officer has the right to seize the goods to check its content and origin. According to INDEM 2005, companies often choose to pay a bribe to avoid this harassment. Many companies report paying protection money to the police or to security companies as a necessary business expense.

Political Corruption

While law enforcement officials can be held accountable for their actions by law, the supervising bodies are in fact reluctant to press charges. When they do, it is mostly done for political reasons. Russia's interior minister announced in July 2009 that officials who appoint senior police officers will be held responsible for those appointments. However, according to INDEM's corruption analyst Georgi Satarov, this step is an 'internal bureaucratic control' and will have 'little significance', because it does not change the essence of Russia's law enforcement system, as reported by Voice of America News.

In May 2006, President Putin and Prime Minister Fradkov ousted several senior police and customs officers on counts of corruption. Generally, however, low-level officers are fired, while the senior officials are quietly let go or transferred to other positions in the administration.

A teacher at the Interior Ministry Law Institute of Tyumen, Igor Groshev, was sacked and sued after he revealed pervasive bribery by cadets at the Institute in 2006. The court found Groshev guilty of damaging the 'professional reputation' of the school. Groshev is still appealing the court verdict in higher instances, but experts in Russia believe that he does not have much of a chance, according to CBS News.

In September 2009, Russia's interior minister announced that, from January 2010 onwards, all law-enforcement officials will have to declare their incomes, as reported by RIA Novosti. This new initiative is part of the government's efforts to crack down on corruption in the law enforcement, where regular and traffic police are widely seen as corrupt. According to the interior minister, several high-ranking law enforcement officials have been lately accused, including a deputy chief of police in southern Russia's Stavropol region, the head of special investigations in the Far Eastern Primorye region, and the commander of Moscow's rail police, as reported by RIA Novosti.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the Russian police a score of 3.1 on a 7-point scale (1 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 'can always be relied upon').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 30% of households who had contact with the police in 2008 report to have paid a bribe.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2009:
- Over 38% of companies surveyed identify crime, theft and disorder as a major constraint on doing business in Russia.

EBRD & World Bank: Life in Transition Survey - Russia 2007:
- 18% of household respondents claim they 'always/usually' bribe the traffic police.

- 7% of household respondents say they 'always/usually' bribe the police in general.

- 33% of household respondents report to 'distrust' the police.