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The Institute for Ethics and Economic
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Eighty charged in Petromin corruption investigation. According to Romanian media reports,
Some 80 senior Romanian officials face corruption charges over the sale of 16
ships owned by state carrier Petromin to Torvald Klaveness of
Romanian PM cleans house ahead of EU corruption report. Romanian
Prime Minister Adrian Nastase accepted the resignation of three of his main
ministers in a bid to convince the EU that his country is working hard to
weed out endemic corruption. Nastase told said that the three ministers had
resigned due to corruption scandals. The resignations came after Bucharest, THE GRAFT GUIDE: THE PERSISTENT CANCER A report from the Open Society Institute
states that Romania is the European Union candidate country “most seriously
affected by corruption.” Romania was
ranked 77th in Transparency International’s 2002 survey of 102
countries—of particular significance considering Romania’s hope for full EU
membership in 2007. A first step for
the country is to become serious about enforcing the international
conventions it has already ratified, such as the Council of Europe’s Civil
Law Convention on Corruption that will take effect in November 2003. The
convention allows victims of bribery (for instance, contractors who lost
business due to a rival’s bribe) to sue the state for compensation; the state
may be potentially considered at fault for making “a negligent appointment.” Another step is for
OPPOSITION PARTY FIGHTS ROMANIAN ANTI-CORRUPTION PACKAGE IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT. Extremist Greater Romania Party (PRM) has challenged at the Constitutional Court of Romania the constitutionality of a package of anticorruption bills. According to parliamentary group leader Lucian Bolcas, the package provides the prime minister with the right to limit citizens' rights by a simple administrative act, while the constitution stipulates that civil rights can only be limited in exceptional cases, such as national security. The controversy over the anti-corruption package had earlier lead to a motion of no confidence in the government, which was though rejected by the Parliament. (RFE/RL Newsline, April 4, 2003, summary by Pavlidis George).
ANTI-CORRUPTION
MEASURES REJECTED Yesterday anti-corruption bills submitted by Romanian
government have been rejected by the opposition parties, shattering hopes of early approval of
legislation considered vital to Romania's admission to both the European
Union and NATO. (Irish Times 22 Mar 2003, summary by Hanh Vu). Government Urges Anti-Corruption Laws Confidence Vote. The Romanian government has asked parliament for a confidence vote on a package of anti-corruption legislation, pledging to eradicate the illicit dealings which plague the country’s business environment. The move follows intense criticism from international bodies, which warned Romania that rampant corruption would endanger the country’s chances of joining the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However, the opposition said that they would challenge the government’s action, claiming that the proposed legislation needs more fine-tuning by the parliament. (Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2003, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
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 STILL A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN ROMANIA. Romanian citizens say that corruption is widespread within their country. After the fall of communism, much money changed hands, much of it in private deals that circumvented the law. Many other people took loans, but never paid them back, leading to a banking crisis. In addition, while some Romanians adjusted to the new freedoms and became wealthy, others, long accustomed to the support the communist system never adjusted and became poorer. The opposition has accused the government of using money to reinforce, or change, political loyalties. Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, in turn, argues that more efficient institutions are needed. "In our country there is a huge gap between resources and the aspirations of the people. I think that eliminating the situation of relative poverty, is one of the ways to deal with the temptation for corruption. And, of course, I think it's important to have better legislation for the conflict of interest at the political level. And it is also important to have more efficient institutions dealing with those who infringed the law." According to one Romanian, "Corruption is everywhere; is in local administration; is in central administration; is everywhere.” Many hope the requirements needed to achieve membership in NATO and the European Union will force the reforms needed to eliminate corruption. (VOA 27, Nov 2002, Douglas Bakshian, Summary by Gray Charlton).
official arrested
on corruption charges . A
government official was arrested on charges that she helped two Italian
investors buy a state farm at a fraction of its price. Florica Dinculescu, a
director in the Ministry of Agriculture, is accused of corruption. She
allegedly took a US$190,000 bribe from the Italian investors to pay off
privatisation officials. She is charged with influence peddling, a crime
punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Large cash bribes are usually paid in
less bulky bills, such as U.S. dollars or euros. The arrest was part of a
larger effort made by the country to crack down on corruption. Romania wants
to join the European Union by 2007. Prosecutors trapped Pavalache by marking
the money with fluorescent paint. He is charged with influence peddling.(Yahoo News, October 25, 2002, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson). U.S. official tells
Romania to eradicate corruption CRIME-BUSTERS. Romania has set up a new anti-corruption office in order to fight endemic corruption, which is thought to be one of the biggest barriers to joining Nato. Despite the problems that still exist (recruitment of qualified staff, availability of premises etc) the new unit is now operational. (Financial Times, September 6, 2002, summary by Pavlidis George).
Premier inaugurates new public procurement system on Internet Prime Minister Adrian Nastase inaugurated the new public purchase system through the Internet. The server is located at the General Communications and Information Technology Institute. Nastase pointed out that this system is a way to modernise public administration and eliminate red tape. Prime Minister Nastase said that the elimination of red tape is also the elimination of the corruption in administration, and to this end the cabinet has launched a vast programme over the last months. Conversely, Nastase estimates that the new public purchase system will be a kind of market report for a large range of products, the auction price becoming a reference for the market. "Higher prices than those posted based on the bids through the public purchase system to which everybody has access through the Internet will be very hard to obtain," (BBC Monitoring Service (Rompres News Agency), March 4, 2002, summary by Sherldine Tomlinson).
JOURNALISTS ATTACKED. Stefan Candea and Paul Radu, employees of the daily Evenimentol Ziki, were recently attacked and beaten in retaliation for their stories of corruption in the government, with top police officers, and with underworld businessmen. Radu recently returned to Romania after serving an internship with the San Antonio Express-News, where he wrote a story of corruption in international adoptions between the U.S., Russia, and Romania. (AP Worldstream, Jan. 3, 2002, summary by Marg Reynolds).
PREMIER ASKS FOR SUPPORT TO FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION In a letter to the leaders of political groups, the Prime Minister Adrian Nastase has asked the groups to support his fight against corruption by sending in information of the corruption cases in their and other parties, to the concerned institutions. Furthering its commitment to fighting corruption on a priority basis, the Adrian Nastase cabinet had set up the National Committee for Crime Prevention in 2001, fulfilled the national plan for prevention of corruption and reviewed the corruption acts that had implications on national security with the top directors of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). As of 1st January 2002 the government intends to implement computer information systems to make public acquisitions completely transparent, and intends to present sectoral reports of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Public Service, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Public Finance by 15th January 2002. Finally, a White Paper on corruption is to be issued by end June 2002. (Financial Times, December 28, 2001, summary by Aruna Balakrishnan).
POVERTY, CORRUPTION FUEL ROMANIAN BABY TRADE A nightmarish fantasy has become a common strategy for survival as many poor Romanians are selling their children to the highest bidder, sanctioned in some cases by corrupt public officials. It is not that unusual for couples to have sold as many as twelve children. For $1,000 or sometimes less, babies are sold to adoption foundations, who will resell the babies for as much as $20,000 to Americans and Europeans hoping to adopt. The money is supposedly reinvested within Romania in orphanage programs, however, the orphanages are dilapidated and understaffed. They don’t enough money from the welfare stipend to feed the children properly, and what food is given to the children, the children won’t eat. (Yahoo News (ABC News), June 11, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds).
ANTI-CORRUPTION HEAD QUITS IN ROW WITH PREMIER Ovidiu Grecea, head of the anti-corruption commission, resigned his post after his claim that security agents were spying on him and after his clash with Prime Minister Adrian Natase. Grecea stated it was a gesture of honor as he did not wish to further harm the Natase government activities or raise worrying questions about government commitment to attacking dishonesty, bribery, and profiteering. Emil Hurezeanu, Political Commentator, stated abuse of power, such as widespread cronyism and heavy-handed response to dissent by Natase’s party, should be revealed as truths, not regular bureaucratic proceedings. (Romania Today, Mar. 16, 2001, summary by Marg Reynolds). Budapest, PRIME MINISTER ACCUSES FORMER GOVERNMENT OF
FRAUD. The new Romanian government has vowed to
fight poverty and corruption. The new Romanian Prime Minister, Adrian
Nastase, said that he was determined to cancel
privatization deals fixed by the outgoing government if the contracts
turned
out to be illegal. Prime Minister Nastase also accused the outgoing
administration
of Mugur Isarescu of destroying files relating to contracts, in
order to avoid being held accountable. The government's audit office will
be
given 60 days to verify previous privatization deals, concluded between
November
1996 and November 2000. Mr. Nastase is due next week to present his
cabinet
to the new parliament that was elected in the November 26 ballot.
(Source:
Central Europe Online- Agence France Presse, December 18, 2000, summary
by Pavlidis George). Headlines: The first
dismissal in government (Central Europe Online/Romania Today, August 16,
2000, OLD URL: http://www.centraleurope.com/romaniatoday/news.php3?id=189625&text) Romanian president
blames judicial system for slow fight against organized crime (RFE/RL
Newsline, August 18, 2000,, OLD URL: http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2000/08/180800.html) The Index of Economic Freedom (by Driscoll-Holmes-Kirkpatrick) for 2001 places Romania in the “Mostly Unfree” category with a rank of 126 (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 |
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