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The Institute for Ethics and Economic
Policy (IEEP) |
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Olympic offical
accused of corruption lodges appeal. Bulgarian
International Olympic Committee member Ivan Slavkov has appealed to the Court
of Arbitration for Sport against the decision to withdraw his accreditation
for the Athens Olympics because of a corruption probe. Slavkov was suspended
from the IOC after being caught on camera in a BBC TV programme indicating
that IOC members were ready to accept bribes to secure their votes in the
election of the host city for the 2012 Olympics. In lodging his appeal, Slavkov said he had not had a chance to
prove his innocence before the IOC Ethics Commission and yet had seen all his
rights as a top IOC official removed.
(Yahoo News (AFP),
Higher Education Plagued by Corruption. According to
the majority of respondents in a student poll, the higher education system in
Corruption Spreads
over Bulgarian Private Sector. According to a research by the
sociological agency Vitosha Research, Bulgaria´s businesses complain about
the generalizing practice to "bribe under the counter" to be
short-listed at procurement tenders. Corruption in the private sector is a
cute problem facing Bulgarian business and it should be treated with the same
seriousness as corruption in public sector. The results have revealed that
corruption in private sector has become a factor to consider. About 60 % of
respondents have stated that corruption practices have afflicted private and
public sectors equally. (Novinite,
Prosecutor general
urges politicians to back fight against corruption. Bulgaria´s Chief
Prosecutor Dissatisfied with Corruption Fight.
TURKEY TO SIGN ACCORD OF POLICE COOPERATION Balkan
neighbors
Bulgaria’s Vice President Fears Hasty NATO Entry Would Lead to Corruption. According to Bulgaria’s Vice President Anguel Marin, Bulgaria should aim at joining NATO but a hasty entry in Alliance would result into corruption in the country’s army. He explained that so far Bulgaria has performed successfully all its tasks for the NATO entry. Marin added that Bulgarian military plants could meet the needs of the Bulgarian army and in the near future the country would purchase only Russian firearm that meets NATO requirements in this field. (Novi Nite, June 30, 2003 summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). Results of Corruption Check in Bulgaria´s Army Announced. The results of the check of misuses and
corruption in Bulgaria’s army will be announced soon, Bulgaria’s Defence
Minister Nikolay Svinarov said. The check has shown misuses of over millions
of dollars. It was initiated by Bulgaria’s Defence Ministry and
counter-intelligence. Over thirty-nine military men have been accused of
misuses and corruption the Defence Minister said. Measures against corruption
and misuses in Bulgaria’s Defence ministry and army should be taken and
performed by end of July, added Svinarov. (Novinite June 25, 2003 summary
by Sherldine Tomlinson). Parliament Passes Law to Curb Corruption in Licensing Businesses. In a bid to curb corruption, Parliament passed legislation that would cut the state administration powers to license new businesses. The legislation disabled the government, the ministries and local authorities to introduce business licenses and passed that power to Parliament. The lawmakers also introduced the “principle of the silent consent”, which means that an application for a license will be considered granted if authorities fail to answer it on time. So far, the law interpreted the lack of answer as a rejection. (News.bg, June 4, 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
US REPORT SAYS CORRUPTION IN JUDICIARY IS SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR BULGARIA:- The 2002 report on human practices for Bulgaria indicates that the corruption was a serious problem in the country where the the judiciary is underpaid, understaffed with a heavy backlog of cases. The report released by US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor also stated other serious problems in Bulgaria as trafficking in women and girls though government addressed it. (Source: Novinte.com 01 April 2003, summary by Davis Joseph Weddi).
ROMANIA, BULGARIA VIEW NATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTING, FIGHTING CORRUPTION A seminar organized by the Romanian Justice Ministry at the Law Training Center in Sovata -northern Romania, has been underway with the participations of judges, attorneys, legal counselors of the Romanian and Bulgarian Justice Ministries who came here to discuss the anti-corruption strategy, legal measures for preventing and fighting corruption, the strengthening of the institutional capability of preventing and fighting corruption, international cooperation in preventing and fighting corruption and the international programs in this respect. The two countries will continue to organize seminars as part of the cooperation between the two countries' Justice Ministries ratified in an agreement signed on 8 November 1999 in Bucharest. (BBC Monitoring Service 10 Mar 2003, summary by Hanh Vu).
CORRUPTION IN BULGARIA ALARMING 80% of all customs officers and 60% of the policemen in Bulgaria are corrupted; Publications in the media over the last two months showed that the most severe punishment in case of corruption is dismissal, said Roderick W. Moore in an international conference on combat against corruption and frauds. In December last year US Ambassador to Bulgaria James Pardew expressed similar concerns over Bulgaria's well-organized and visible corruption. (Novinite.com 25 Feb 2003, summary by Hanh Vu).
parliament forms commission on corruption It was reported that Bulgaria’s Parliament set up a special body to battle corruption — a key obstacle for this Balkan country’s aspirations to join NATO and the European Union. The lawmakers voted 113-34 to form a 16-member commission on corruption. There were 57 abstentions. The EU has repeatedly criticized Bulgaria for not doing enough to curb corruption and to reform its legal system. In a related move, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov has proposed a law that would make it easier to confiscate the property of people or companies convicted for crimes including terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling, money laundering, fraud and embezzlement. (Yahoo News, September 11, 2002 summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
Coalition 2000.
KING OPENS ELECTION CAMPAIGN WITH PROMISE TO FIGHT CORRUPTION King Simeon II, Madrid businessman, who has lived in exile in Spain since 1946, announced he would contest the June election with his leadership of a new political group, the National Movement for Simeon II. Although this party has yet to be registered and he does not have a concrete program, published opinion polls show that he is backed by 50 percent of the voters as he promises to fight corruption and improve ordinary people’s lives within 800 days. Both of the present main political parties – the ruling reformist Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) led by Prime Minister Ivan Kostov, and the opposition Socialists Party of ex-communists – have about 20 percent of the population’s support. (Balkans Today (Reuters), Apr 11, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds).
Sofia, TOWARDS A MORE TRANSPARENT PROCESS OF PRIVATIZATION.
Recently, legislative amendments entered into force in Bulgaria,
aiming at boosting the transparency and efficiency of
the privatization process. Following these amendments, Bulgaria's
government replaced Zahari Zhelyazkov, the head of
the Privatization Agency (the government body that is in charge of major
sell-offs).
The new executive director of the agency is Deputy Economy Minister
Levon Hampartsumyan, 46 years old. The aforementioned changes aim
to
improve the government's image (ahead of general election next year) and
to
avoid the allegations of corruption that often accompany privatization in
Bulgaria.
For the last two months (until the amendments to the Privatization
Law
took effect), all major privatization had been put on hold by Prime
Minister
Ivan Kostov. (Source: Central Europe Online-Reuters, December 20,
2000,
summary by Pavlidis George). The OECD anti-Corruption report for Bulgaria can be found
at http://www.oecd.org/daf/nocorruption/report.htm
The Index of Economic Freedom (by Driscoll-Holmes-Kirkpatrick) for 2001 places Bulgaria in the “Mostly Unfree” category with a rank of 95 (Ranks range from 1 for Hong Kong to 155 for North Korea, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 1, 2000). H. D. Vinod’s trimmed correlation analysis indicates that countries free from economic regulation are less corrupt. After allowing for some exceptions by 20% trimming, the correlation is near 0.9. |
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Design:
Theo den Brinker |
Copyright:
Hrishikesh D. Vinod 2000 |
Last Update: February 7, 2007 |
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