(Source: https://www.culture.ru/storage)

Transparency International has published an annual report on the level of corruption in different countries of the world.

Russia took the 137th place out of 180, gaining 28 points (the more the better). For comparison, the leaders of the ranking, Denmark and New Zealand, have 87 points, and the third one is Finland with 86 points.

Russia has risen one line compared to the last year’s rating. The country shares a position with such states as Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Uganda, Mauritania, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and Papua New Guinea. Higher than Russia in the ranking are, for example, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Georgia, as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The worse rating than that of Russia, among the former republics of the USSR is only in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Somalia is recognized as the most corrupt country in the world, while things are slightly better in South Sudan, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela.

The number of points awarded to Russia practically does not change from year to year: in 2015-2017, Russia received 29 points, since then - 28 points. At the same time, the country's position in the ranking changed from 119th in 2015 to 138th in 2018. “Systematic anti-corruption was replaced by targeted criminal cases, existing anti-corruption tools were not developed,” the Transparency International Russian press release said. In addition, the rating is affected by the fact that Russia has not ratified the Convention on Civil Liability for Corruption. To  fight corruption effectively, it is necessary to build a system that “will not allow the authorities to make rash decisions in the interests of a narrow group of people,” Anton Pominov, director of the Transparency International-R center said.

Transparency International invited Russia to take several steps to increase the system's stability against corruption: to ensure that decisions regarding the budget and actions of the authorities are not dictated by personal ties and interests, regulate lobbies, improve laws regarding conflicts of interest, monitor the integrity of the election process and protect activists and journalists.

Damage from corruption in Russia can be measured in the trillions of rubles,  the Chairman of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin said on January 14. “I focus on general research: they show that corruption has not  declined yet,” he said. Kudrin added that now the powers of the Accounts Chamber in the fight against corruption are limited, and “targeted innovations” would help to  fight corruption more effectively.”