Annual budget loss from corruption in Russia is $1.3 billion

Russia’s General Prosecutor, Yuri Chaika, has revealed that in 2016 corruption was to blame for clawing away more than 78 billion rubles ($1.3 billion) of the country’s budget.

“In 2016, 32,824 corruption crimes were registered, which is 1.4 percent more than in 2015,” RIA Novosti reports, quoting a report.

The document also says that the number of registered crimes committed during the last few years is not realistic, given many went unreported.

Earlier, Russia’s Deputy General Prosecutor Alexander Buksman said that during the last 10 years the fight against corruption regarding law-making saw “revolutionary changes,” as Kommersant daily quotes him.

However, he says that due to “the citizens’ legal illiteracy” the measures weren’t effective.

According to the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, Russia is ranked 131th alongside Iran, Kazakhstan, Nepal, and Ukraine (The index’s zero score is a maximum level of corruption and 100 is minimum). In 2016, Denmark (90 scores) took the first place, Kommersant daily writes. 

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