Russia again scores low on Transparency International’s corruption index

Transparency International has once again ranked Russia as one of the world’s most corrupt major economies.

Russia placed 143 out of 182 nations in TI’s Corruption Perception Index, a few slots below Pakistan, Syria and Iran.

Russia is also perceived to be more corrupt that its fellow BRICS, as Brazil (75th), India (95th), China (75th) and South Africa (64th) all finished ahead of it.

Additionally, Russia companies were rated as the “most likely to bribe” when doing business abroad, according to a TI survey of 3,000 business executives also released today. TI wrote in its report:

Given the increasing global presence of businesses from [Russia], bribery and corruption are likely to have a substantial impact on societies in which they operate and on the ability of companies to compete fairly in these markets.

 TI Russian director Elena Panfilova added: “Unfortunately… there are no islands of integrity in Russian public and business life.”

The report called for more to be done at the international level to outlaw companies from paying bribes in foreign countries.

The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks nations based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be, using data from more than a dozen surveys that look at kickbacks in public procurement, embezzlement of public funds and questions that probe the strength and effectiveness of public-sector anti-corruption efforts.