World Bank poll shows corruption falls in Azerbaijan

Text of report by Azerbaijani news agency Trend

Baku, 10 January, Trend correspondent A. Mehdiyeva: The results of a poll conducted by the World Bank in order to determine the level of corruption in Azerbaijan have not been analysed yet. However, the results of the 1999 and 2000 polls conducted by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 25 countries with a transitional economy show that the level of corruption has considerably fallen, Trend news agency reports that the head of the World Bank office in Baku, Akbar Noman, said this at a news conference on 10 January.

As corruption affects various spheres of the economy - the business climate, employment and the development of the non-oil sector, it is necessary to take a series of measures to reduce it, he said.

Speaking about the absence of a state anti-corruption programme, Noman said that adopting a programme did not mean a solution to the problem. At the same time, it is possible to positively assess the steps taken by the Azerbaijani government to simplify the issuance of licences, reduce their number, improve the Tax Code and so on. Nevertheless, corruption is still a vital problem, he said.

Noman also noted that the main questions in polls conducted in numerous companies pertained to the impact of corruption on the business climate in Azerbaijan. Respondents were asked how often they had to give bribes. According to the results of the 1999 poll, 59.9 per cent of the respondents gave a positive answer to this question while this figure dropped to 27.5 per cent in 2000.

Source: Trend news agency, Baku, in Russian 1455 gmt 12 Jan 03

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