• September 26, 2007

Tbilisi, Georgia – Berlin-based Transparency International, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, published today the results of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2007 in which Georgia received 3.4 points (out of a total ten), ranking 79^th among 180 countries.  The CPI ranks countries in terms of the degree in which business people and country analysts, both residents and non-residents, perceive corruption to exist in the public and political sectors. 

Georgia’s score this year is a significant improvement over the score in 2006 (2.8).  Indeed, since the Rose Revolution, Georgia’s score has steadily risen, starting at 1.8 in 2003.  This year’s positive jump means that Georgia has moved out of the group of countries considered to have a rampant corruption problem (those under 3.0).  Nevertheless, a score of 3.4 still indicates that corruption is a significant problem in the public sector.

In light of the sectors covered by the CPI, TI Georgia calls for the government to focus on:

1. Effective reform of the civil service: a final decision should be made and implemented on the structure of Georgia’s civil service;
2. Increased scrutiny of public officials’ assets: the transparency and scrutiny of financial assets and property of public officials and their business affiliations must be increased and the process undertaken systematically and consistently;
3. Research-based fight against bribery and corruption: the causes of bribery and corruption should be investigated, in addition to the prosecution of corrupt officials, in order to address the roots of the problem;
4. Publication of plea bargaining cases: comprehensive data on plea bargaining should be made available to the public, including a complete list of who paid money through plea bargaining, how much, and what for;
5. Increased access to information: civil society’s access to information must be made a priority for all government institutions, especially in the regions;
6. Improvement of the system of public procurement: transparency and greater efficiency of this system needs to be promoted and sole source procurement should be used on an infrequent basis;
7. Targeted public spending: the government’s spending should be based upon Georgia’s state priorities and be consistent with its medium- and long-term policy plans; and
8. Reform of the judiciary: steps taken to reform the judiciary need to be communicated to the public in order to promote effective implementation and increased confidence in the sector.

Methodology

The CPI is developed by Transparency International Secretariat, combining results from different polls and surveys from other independent institutions to create a consolidated score.  The index focuses on corruption in the public sector.  This year, a total of six surveys were used to calculate Georgia’s score including:

1. The Bertelsmann Foundation’s Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2008), which assesses the government’s capacity to punish and contain corruption;
2. The World Bank’s Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (2007), which covers corruption, conflicts of interest, diversion of funds, and anti-corruption efforts and achievements;
3. Freedom House’s Nations in Transit (2007), which measures the extent of corruption as practiced in governments, as perceived by the public, and as reported in the media, in addition to the implementation of anticorruption initiatives;
4. Global Insight’s Country Risk Ratings (2007), which measures the likelihood of encountering corrupt officials, ranging from petty bureaucratic corruption to grand political corruption;
5. Merchant International Group’s Grey Area Dynamics (2007), which covers corruption, ranging from bribery of government ministers to inducements payable to the “humblest clerk,” and
6. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (2007), which measures undocumented extra pay­ments and bribes connected with various government functions.