October 18, 2005, Tbilisi, Transparency International Georgia

Today Transparency International has released the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2005. The study ranks countries according to qualitative indicators of corruption by which foreign and local business people and analysts perceive corruption in the country’s public and political sectors. This year, Georgia has 2.3 out of 10 possible scores and ranks 130^th out of 158 countries studied. Compared with last year’s results, Georgia has improved its position by a score of 0.3.

Georgia’s positioning in the group of countries with scores lower than 3 (together with Burundi, Cambodia, Congo, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, and Kyrgyzstan) indicates that the level of corruption in the country is still quite high, while the slight change compared with last year shows that progress is possible provided that there is a political will. However, it takes a lot of efforts to eliminate systems of corruption.

This slight change in the public perception might be brought about by several well-known anti-corruption measures, specifically, detention of public officials and ongoing institutional changes in individual ministries. But ensuring the sustainability of the results of the government’s anti-corruption campaign requires additional efforts to define the country’s anti-corruption policy and create strong institutions. So far, the government’s anti-corruption strategy has been more eliminative than preventive.

In June 2005, the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, approved the Anti-Corruption Strategy of Georgia, which defined the government’s priorities in the struggle against corruption, specifically: prevention of corruption and institutional reform, liberalization of the business environment, and ensuring the public’s participation in anti-corruption measures. On the basis of the strategy, the government created an action plan which is aimed at determining concrete measures necessary for the implementation of the strategy.

Today it is important that both executive and legislative branches of government, as well as the public at large, get actively involved in the implementation of the anti-corruption plan approved by the government. At a time when the public is not informed of measures and reforms planned by the authorities, the public’s trust in and support for the process of implementation of these changes is inadequate. The struggle against corruption in this country will be more successful if this process is planned effectively and if the public has an opportunity to take an active part in its implementation.

CPI is a complex study that is based on the results of interviews with business people and analysts. CPI focuses on cases of corruption in the public sector and defines corruption as the use of public office for personal ends. CPI relies on 17 different studies that are conducted in 10 independent institutions. CPI 2005 includes the results of the surveys of 2003, 2004, and 2005. All the indicators determine the general level, frequency, and scale of corruption both in the public and political sectors.