Bribes outpace tax revenue in Russia

Washington Times:

New figures show that corruption is flourishing in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, with the value of bribes paid to government officials now almost equal to the state's entire revenue.
In an interview with state-run Rossiiskaya Gazeta this week, Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman estimated that corrupt officials are taking bribes worth $240 billion a year. He said that prosecutors had uncovered 28,000 cases of corruption among state officials in the first eight months of this year.
"We are confronting mass disrespect for the law," he told the newspaper. "The scale of bribes has reached such a level that within a year a midranking corrupt bureaucrat can buy himself a [2,000 square-foot] apartment." Based on current market rates, an apartment of that size in Moscow would cost nearly $800,000. The average salary in Moscow is about $800 a month.
Mr. Buksman cited numerous examples of corruption, including the case of the deputy head of the state property fund in the southern region of Krasnodar, who is accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes. He did not say how many cases of corruption have been prosecuted.
The monitoring group Transparency International estimates that corruption in Russia has grown sevenfold since 2001, the year after Mr. Putin came to power. In a report on perceptions of corruption released this week, the organization ranked Russia 121st out of 163 countries, in the same league as Rwanda and Burundi. Four years ago, Russia ranked 71st.
The independent Russian think tank INDEM said last month that on average businesses operating in Russia spend 7 percent of their budgets on bribes. The group also reported that the average sum being paid in bribes had risen to $146,000, up from only $11,000 four years ago.
It said the increase reflected growing government involvement in the economy, with large corporations facing higher bribes to win bids or participate in state-run projects.
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There is more. Integrity and the free market are in short supply in Russia. Bribes distort the free market system that works on the basis of the guy with the best product at the best price getting the sale. It is a system that requires hard work and honesty. The bribe culture works on the basis of who pays public officials in order to get their product or service business regardless of the merits of that product or service. Assuming the bribed official stays bought, it is easier to operate, but the people wind up paying more for less. It lowers the standard of living of the many for the benefit of the few.