DATE=12/2/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / CORRUPTION
NUMBER=5-44892
BYLINE=ANDRE DE NESNERA
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

// Eds: This is the fourth in an eight-part series on 
Russia.  Issues raised in the series include the role 
of the I-M-F, NATO-Russia relations and Boris 
Yeltsin's legacy. //

INTRO:  In the past year, much has been written and 
alleged about corruption and money-laundering schemes 
involving high-level Russian government officials. In 
the fourth of an eight-part series on Russia, former 
V-O-A Moscow correspondent Andre de Nesnera looks at 
the issue of corruption in that country. 

TEXT: Investigators in the United States and Europe 
are continuing their probes into allegations of money-
laundering schemes involving billions of dollars 
diverted from Russia. 

The investigations focus on the transfer to the United 
States of huge sums of money suspected of coming from 
Russian organized crime groups. In early October, 
three Russian immigrants and the companies they 
control were indicted in New York - the first criminal 
charges stemming from a probe of possible money-
laundering at the Bank of New York, which was not 
named in the indictment.  

Analysts say the current investigations are just the 
tip of the iceberg. But they point out such probes do 
not address the fundamental questions about the extent 
of corruption in Russia and what should be done to 
curtail it?

Paul Saunders from the (Washington-based) Nixon Center 
research organization, says corruption in Russia 
affects practically everyone in the country.

            /// SAUNDERS ACT ///

      Not only at the level of senior government 
      officials, but also at the level of the very 
      lowest bureaucrat, police officer - just 
      everyone in society. To me, it seems like that 
      is the most difficult thing about it - for 
      people who live in Russia - is that it is just a 
      daily fact of life. It is just pushed into your 
      face all day long, everywhere you go. If you are 
      shaken down by a police officer to pay some fine 
      for something that you did not do - or the 
      office that you are working at is paying 
      protection money to some organized crime gang - 
      or you need to pay some low official to get your 
      business license renewed - it just permeates 
      every sector of society.

            /// END ACT /// 

The allegations of high-level corruption go all the 
way up to President Boris Yeltin's family and close 
entourage.  The accusations stem from reports Mr. 
Yeltsin and members of his family received bribes from 
the Swiss "Mabetex" engineering firm in exchange for 
lucrative construction projects in the Kremlin. Mr. 
Yeltsin has denied those allegations - and rejected 
claims that he and his relatives have accounts in 
Swiss banks.  

But some analysts, such as Mike McFaul from the 
Carnegie Institute, say it is unfair to single out 
Russia for engaging in corrupt practices, when such 
practices are widespread - including in the West.  

            /// McFAUL ACT /// 

      There is corruption all over the world, every 
      day, all the time. And let us not forget: for 
      instance, in the "Mabetex" scandal, allegedly 
      between Yeltsin's family and this company in 
      Switzerland, that the Swiss are just as corrupt 
      as the Russians in this.  All the headlines in 
      the West are the "Russian corruption scandal." 
      But it wasn't the Russians paying those bribes.  
      It was the Swiss. And there seems to me to be a 
      real double standard here in the way that we 
      look at this question.  It is as if the Swiss 
      are naive and innocent and the Russians are 
      nasty because they take the bribes.

            /// END ACT /// 

Many analysts say the fight against corruption in 
Russia can only succeed if the country's top 
leadership addresses the problem. 

Candoleeza Rice - senior policy adviser to 
presidential hopeful George Bush - believes next 
year's presidential election offers Russians a chance 
to choose a leader who is - above all - devoted to the 
people. 

            /// RICE ACT /// 

      The most important thing in this next 
      presidential election is that the Russians find 
      a way to elect someone who clearly represents 
      what we would call the spirit of public service: 
      that is that you do not go into public service 
      to enrich yourself, you go into public service 
      to try to make the country better. And I think 
      that there is right now a lack of faith that 
      those kinds of people exist. I am sure that they 
      do in Russia and it is important that they step 
      up. 

            /// END ACT /// 

But other analysts say it will be hard to combat 
corruption in Russia, since it has become ingrained in 
the daily life of even ordinary citizens. They say 
corruption was part of the Soviet system for decades. 
And as one analyst put it - "Old habits die hard." 
(Signed)  

NEB/ADEN/KL



02-Dec-1999 14:18 PM EDT (02-Dec-1999 1918 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.