Petty-corruption under crisis - Hospitals and Tax offices the top corrupted services

For the first time, corruption-cases have been significantly reduced. However, hospitals and tax offices still remain at the top of the list of the most corrupted services, according to 2010 National Survey on Corruption in Greece, which is released today by the Chairman of Transparency International-Greece Mr Costas Bakouris and Chairman and CEO of the leading opinion polling company Public Issue S.A. Mr Yiannis Mavris.

The 2010 National Survey on Corruption in Greece shows a significant change regarding the extent of corruption, which is illustrated in the percentages of households reporting cases of corruption in both public and private sector (10,4% in 2010 vs of 13,4% in 2009). Additionally, there is a reduction regarding the magnitude of total cost of petty-corruption in Greece (632 million Euros in 2010 vs of 787 million Euros in 2009). It seems that the financial crisis has also affected petty-corruption. “Fakelaki” is under austerity measures!

Concerning the ranking of the most corrupted services in the public sector, the hospitals are the champions, followed by the tax offices, which passed over the construction-license bodies. This back fall can be explained on one hand, by the recession of the construction activities, on the other by the arrangements for tax debits and illegal building!

According to 2010 Corruption Pricelist, the cost for a surgery ranges from €150 up to €7.500; the cost for tax arrangements is between €300 and €15.000.

In private sector, in the first two positions are health services (private hospitals, clinics etc) and lawyers. There is a considerable decrease in the number of corruption-cases in banks (4,9% in 2010, instead of 10,8% in 2009).

Views on corruption trends are most negative as the majority of the respondents (92%) respectively think that Greek society is corrupted. However, the most encouraging message is that people identify what corruption is (it’s remarkable that more people over the years, consider that using connections in order to hire someone is a corrupt practice).

Finally, it’s a common demand to introduce disclosure requirements for public officials’ assets in order to efficiently combat corruption. This tool is also included in 15+48 recommendations for political financing released by TI-Greece.

“These results are indeed encouraging, but we should not complacent. Time limits and second chances have been exhausted. It’s time to join our forces and to irrevocably commit to take a stand against corruption, to restore values?? as accountability and responsibility, if we want to guarantee sustainability in future generations”, said Costas Bakouris.

Since 2007, TI-Greece, in cooperation with the company Public Issue S.A., conducts the National Survey on Corruption in Greece, highlighting the extent of the petty-corruption in greek households. Keeping the same specifications, the 2010 Survey was carried out over a period of 6 months, using the method of telephone interviews based on structured questionnaire, addressing a sample of 6.114 people. It’s an important scientific tool, whose validity and reliability is demonstrated through comparative analysis and evaluation over time.

For the key results of 2010 National Survey on Corruption in Greece, please press here