Recent report by Igor Krasnov, the Prosecutor General of Russia, explores the criminal situation in the country, as well as contains data on corruption.
RIA Novosti news agency reported the data made public in Krasnov’s report. The crime rate is determined by the number of crimes detected per 100,000 residents of the region. Last year this indicator was equal to 21.1, while in 2018, it was 20.8. Krasnov underlined that this indicator stays at almost the same level.
What Region Steals Most From State Budget?
The Prosecutor General's office presented the disapproval rating of those regions where the largest number of corrupt officials was found. The report shows that most of the corruption-related crimes were solved in the Kamchatka territory, the republic of Mordovia and the Chuvash Republic, as well as in the Bryansk, Orenburg, Magadan, Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, Tyumen and Saratov regions. In these constituent entities of the Russian Federation, this indicator ranges from 29.6 to 26.3.
What are the Least Corrupt Regions?
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the smallest number of corruption-related criminal cases was initiated in the Altai territory, the Republic of Khakassia, the Republic of Ingushetia, and the Vologda and Penza regions. There is also the Moscow region, Saint Petersburg, Sevastopol, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area in this list. The rate of corruption-related crimes in these constituent territories of Russia varied from 6.4 to 9.9.
Budget Money is Tasty Morsel
From the analysis of the criminal situation, it follows that the budget sector remains the most corruption-ridden. This is especially evident in using of funds allocated from budgets of various levels, including targeted programs aimed at improving the lives of Russians in general. After all, this includes the construction of hospitals, schools, roads, etc. It is for this purpose that the government allocates large sums of money. However, they simply got into the pockets of shrewd regional officials. Mostly, criminal frauds and various kinds of cunnings are detected in the sectors where various types of auctions are held. A large number of crimes are also solved in property management and housing and communal services. Recently, a lot of crimes have been stopped in the law enforcement agencies themselves, as well as in the segment of control and audit activities.
The report shows that the detected number of crimes related to corruption is growing “for the second year in a row.” “Kickbacks” in the segment of procurements have almost doubled while the number of detected bribes increased by 11%.
There is some encouraging information in Krasnov’s report. It says that the confiscations of illicit earnings from officials grew by a factor of 70 in 2019. In general, this is more than 20 bln rubles ($285.6 mln.)
Stolen Money is Returned to Budget
This is probably the most important indicator in law enforcement. It is not enough just to detect crime and to investigate it. The most important thing is not “to sweep a criminal case under the rug” but to bring it to trial and have a sentence where funds obtained illegally are sequestered, and those involved in criminal cases get real terms and serve them behind bars, rather than get away with suspended sentences. Only in this case can we say that the law is mandatory for everybody regardless of status and rank.
A biological expert evaluation of banknotes in the amount of about $500 mln has been recently scheduled by the Investigative Committee of Russia. The money was expropriated in a corruption-related case initiated against Alexander Krakovsky and Alexander Biryukov, former deputy heads of the Investigative Department of the Interior Ministry.
As part of the criminal case, searches were conducted not only on Krakovsky and Biryukov’s residential premises, but also in the homes of their colleagues. Moreover, money in the currencies of various countries was also confiscated from other high-ranking officials.