ZAGREB, April 25 (Hina) - Croatia is a country with a high level of corruption, and that is why it needs a national programme for the fight against corruption, said the leader of the Association of the Independent Unions of Croatia
(SSSH), Davor Juric, adding that all public institutions and institutions of authorities should be mobilised in the implementation of such a programme. According to 'Transparency International', an organisation that ranks countries by the extent of corruption in public administration, Croatia was listed among highly corrupted countries two years ago, showing worse record in this field than, for instance, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania or Macedonia, SSSH leaders told a news conference they convened on the occasion of their week of the fight against corruption. For years this association has warned about the great extent of corruption in the country that helped destroy many companies and
ZAGREB, April 25 (Hina) - Croatia is a country with a high level of
corruption, and that is why it needs a national programme for the
fight against corruption, said the leader of the Association of the
Independent Unions of Croatia (SSSH), Davor Juric, adding that all
public institutions and institutions of authorities should be
mobilised in the implementation of such a programme.
According to 'Transparency International', an organisation that
ranks countries by the extent of corruption in public
administration, Croatia was listed among highly corrupted
countries two years ago, showing worse record in this field than,
for instance, Belarus, Bulgaria, Romania or Macedonia, SSSH
leaders told a news conference they convened on the occasion of
their week of the fight against corruption.
For years this association has warned about the great extent of
corruption in the country that helped destroy many companies and
close many jobs during the process of privatisation and ownership
transformation, Juric added.
Since the Government has started returning a part of the state debt,
amounting to nine billion kuna, to the economy, the SSSH will
control channels through which money will flow.
The Croatian political and economic system matches the growth of
corruption as it is based on re-distribution of means and weak
institutions that replace "infallible" leaders, said a professor
at Law School in Zagreb, Josip Kregar, who has recently initiated
the set-up of Transparency International's branch for Croatia.
Kregar, who is also the Government's commissioner for the City of
Zagreb, advocated thorough changes, de-regulation and lessening of
administration, or corruption would grow further.
In recent years Croatia saw an increase in the detection and
registering of criminal acts of corruption. 538 such case were
reported to police last year and 209 in the first three months of
2000, said Mato Blazinovic, an official from the Interior
Ministry's department for the fight against organised crime.
He added that sanctions for corruption were small and the policy of
punishment too mild. Blazenovic cited the data that last year only
20 persons were convicted of bribery and the most sever punishment
was prison sentence between six and 12 months, while most of the
convicted received suspended sentence or fine.
(hina) ms