Linas Jegelevičius for the BNN
In the most recent Transparency International (TI) global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021, Lithuania scored 61 points on a 100-point scale, ranking 34th out of 180 countries. Lithuania is currently 13th out of 27 European Union (EU) countries.
«CPI results show that we are slowly moving in the positive direction. With the new Law on Prevention of Corruption coming into force this year, we have an exceptional opportunity to speed up our progress towards the most transparent countries in the world», said Sergejus Muravjovas, CEO of Transparency International Lithuania.
However, for Eugenijus Simutis, a seasoned councillor of the Palanga municipality, the issue of corruption remains thorny – in entire Lithuania.
«Talking of the big picture, we’ve improved immensely since the wild-West-type of procurements in the early 1990s, when tender winners would be picked by the local gangsters well before the official procedures started. Anyways, things could be much better. They are improving with digitalisation of state-provided services – the fewer face-to-face contacts (with state employees), the more transparent the dealing is. Yet corruption remains entrenched in our public life, as many still believe things could be done simpler and faster with a graft to a respective official», the politician told BNN.
According to him, corruption is especially thriving in small municipalities.
«The smaller and the more bucolic they are, the more rampant corruption manifestations are. In some of such municipalities, entire kins work are employed by the local administrations», he emphasised.
The Corruption Perceptions Index is one of the world’s most famous anti-corruption indicators, which ranks countries and territories based on how effectively they are able to manage corruption. The score of a country or territory reflects the perceived level of corruption on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 indicates that a country is perceived as highly corrupt, whereas 100 means that it is perceived as very clean. The level of corruption in the public and government sectors is evaluated by various experts and business leaders.
«The main challenge for this decade is curbing grand corruption. However, it will only be possible with more transparency in politics and public sector, open data and citizen involvement into decision-making. I would like for public and private sector executives to take on even more initiative creating good examples in their institutions», Muravjovas said.
Agreeing, Simutis says that the best remedy against corruption is citizen involvement and media.
«I wish our local civic societies were much stronger and courageous when it comes to delving into the procedures of local procurements. Few go deep, as going too deep backfires – most of the time», the councillor underlined to BNN.
In his words, what all politicians are afraid of is publicity.
«Unfortunately, not rarely, (Lithuanian) media is biased. Taking sides does not help combat corruption», Simutis added.
He says construction and health care sectors are particularly prone to corruption in Lithuania.
«The procedures of construction permit issuance are constantly being tweaked and changed, suggesting that it is being done to adjust them to certain projects. I am talking about the situation in entire Lithuania, not in a particular municipality», the Palanga councillor said.
«Many Lithuanians still hand envelopes to doctors before the surgery starts. No explanation is needed about their content. That’s the reality», he added.
The newest Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2021, released last summer, revealed that every fifth (19 percent) Lithuanian resident who visited health care institutions recently confessed to giving a bribe, and every fourth (25 percent) used personal connections at least once. Based on levels of bribery in the healthcare system, Lithuania still remains one of the most corrupt countries in the European Union (EU), Transparency International says.
Read also: Corruption perception index improves in Latvia but remains behind EU and OECD levels
Interestingly, Romania is the only state in the EU, where the levels of bribery in the healthcare system are higher than in Lithuania. For comparison, in Denmark, 1 percent claims to have given a bribe in healthcare institutions, 2 percent in Estonia, 10 percent in both Latvia and Poland.
However, over the past 4 years, the overall level of bribery in the public sector in Lithuania decreased by 7 percent (from 24 percent in 2016 to 17 percent in 2020). Currently, the highest levels of bribery in the EU are in Romania (20 percent), Bulgaria (19 percent), Hungary and Lithuania (17 percent). The lowest levels of bribery are in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden (1 percent). The EU average – 7 percent, Transparency International says.
«It‘s disappointing that the extent of bribery in the healthcare sector does not allow Lithuania to finally get rid of the Soviet legacy. If we finally dealt with this issue, we would become more like our Northern neighbours that give almost no bribes. I see this as one of the key anti-corruption tasks for this Government and, in particular, the Ministry of Health», Muravjovas, of Transparency International Lithuania, has said.
In the most notorious corruption case of modern times, dubbed «a case of the century», Lithuanian prosecutors announced at the end of 2021 they will seek prison sentences in Lithuania’s largest political corruption trial, involving Raimondas Kurlianskis, a former vice-president of MG Baltic, one of Lithuania’s biggest business groups, on bribery and influence peddling charges, and Eligijus Masiulis, a former leader of the Liberal Movement.
The prosecution was six and a half years in prison for the former and a seven-year jail sentence for the latter.
In the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Vytautas Gapšys, a former Labour Party MP charged with bribery and influence peddling in the case, to six and a half years in prison. The prosecutor has also called for the recovery of 27,000 euros he allegedly received as bribes, and to ban him from holding office in the public and private sectors for seven years.
All defendants deny the charges, saying the investigation was biased
BNN reminds that the liberal-conservative Lithuanian government has decided to measure its success in the fight against corruption based on the Corruption Perceptions Index. The Programme of the Government states that in 2024 Lithuania should receive a score of 70. The National Agenda for the Prevention of Corruption (2022-2033) sets out a goal for Lithuania to receive 74 points in 2033.
In the most recent Transparency International (TI) global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021, Denmark (88 points) and New Zealand (88 points) are yet again sharing the first place with Finland (88 points) joining the ranks.
BNN ANALYSES | Lithuania inches up in global Corruption Perceptions Index 2021
