• Georgia ranks 64th out of 183 countries, scoring 4.1 on a scale from 10 to 0 in 2011;
• Perceived corruption in Georgia is lower than in several European Union memberstates, including Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria;

Georgia ranks 64th out of 183 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 [1] (CPI). In this latest ranking, which measures perceived corruption in the public sector, Georgia scored 4.1 on a scale from 10 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). In 2010, Georgia scored 3.8, ranking 68th out of 178 countries. "In the past year, we have seen the successful introduction of an electronic, transparent procurement system, which has been a very positive development", says Eka Gigauri, TI Georgia’s Executive Director. "The government’s steps to make data accessible to citizens online and promote e-governance are very positive. We encourage the government to further increase these efforts particularly in regards of some state agencies, which are considered less transparent." The new CPI shows that perceived corruption in Georgia is lower than in several European Union member states, including Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria and lower than in Croatia, the next country to join the EU, and the other countries in the Western Balkans. Turkey ranks 61st (score: 4.2) and thus slightly higher than Georgia. Perceived corruption in Georgia’s other neighbors is much higher: Armenia ranks 129th (2.6), Russia and Azerbaijan share place 143 (2.4). The countries with the lowest perceived corruption in the world are New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Singapore. At the bottom of the list are Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar, North Korea, and Somalia. In spite of the progress particular actions should be carried out in order to improve Georgia’s national anti-corruption system overall. “Our recently published National Integrity System analysis shows that Georgia’s system of democratic checks and balances remains weak. The judiciary, the media, civil society, and opposition parties are underperforming as institutions which should balance the concentration of power of the government. The executive branch remains largely unchecked, because of the ruling party’s constitutional majority in Parliament”, Gigauri says.

In light of the sectors covered by the CPI, TI Georgia calls for the government to focus on:

• Enhancing the role of Parliament to strengthen Georgia’s system of democratic checks and balances, including by promoting a level playing field for all political parties ahead of the 2012 Parliamentary elections;
• Continuing efforts to improve the independence of the judiciary, including by making the extensively-used plea bargaining practice more transparent and by ensuring that laws are equally applied to everybody - including in the areas of conflicts of interest, property rights, tax collection and party financing - addressing concerns about arbitrary enforcement;
• Further promoting e-governance and access to public information, by pro-actively releasing key data sets online, decreasing exemptions for government bodies from using the electronic procurement system and by improving access to public information for civil society and the media, especially in the regions.
• Refrain from any undue government interference in the media sector.

Perceived corruption around the world

[2]

What is the CPI?

The CPI is compiled by the Secretariat of Transparency International, the global civil society movement against corruption, based in Berlin. It ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. The CPI is based on surveys conducted by international organizations and consultancy firms. It also reflects the views of observers from around the world, including experts living and working in the countries evaluated. The CPI is not an appropriate tool for comparisons of a country’s performance over time but provides a good snapshot of perceived corruption throughout the world.

This year, a total of seven surveys were used to calculate Georgia’s score:

1.) Asian Development Bank: Country Performance Assessment Ratings [3] and 2.) World Bank: Country Performance and Institutional Assessment [4], providing assessments of transparency, accountability and corruption in the public sector; 3.) Bertelsmann Foundation: Bertelsmann Transformation Index [5], which assesses the government’s capacity to punish and contain corruption; 4.) Freedom House: Nations in Transit 2011 [6], which measures a government’s efforts to fight corruption and provides an assessment of relevant aspects of the public administration: 5.) Global Insight’s Country Risk Rating [7], which assess how corruption affects operational activities for businesses; 6.) and 7.) World Economic Forum: Executive Opinion Surveys (EOS) [8] 2010 and 2011, which asked respondents about bribes and undocumented payments are in different parts of the public sector. For more information about the CPI's, its methodology, please see our Frequently Asked Questions [9]. For an in-depth analysis of Georgia's key institutions, see TI Georgia's National Integrity System 2011 analysis [10]. Media contact: Nana Lobjanidze, Communications Officer, TI Georgia Mobile: 599 210 309 nana@transparency.ge For regular updates and articles on current issues related to corruption and good governance in Georgia, follow TI Georgia’s blog [11] and share your views with us on Facebook [12] and Twitter [13].