• Corruption Perceptions Index 2005

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• Press Release

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During the UN Summit in New York, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) received its thirtieth ratification and will enter into force after 90 days, on the 14^th of December this year. Although it was signed by 133 countries by now, the process of collecting the necessary number of ratifications continued for almost two years. Bulgaria is among the countries that first signed the document, but has not ratified it yet.

There are apprehensions that the document will not be efficient enough, because France is the only G8-country that has ratified the convention. Despite that, the UNCAC is a strong instrument which provides opportunities for global cooperation and also a wide range of actions for combating corruption, including retrieval of funds stolen by dictators; strengthening the pressure over major banking centers like the UK and Switzerland against money laundering, etc.

The Association sent a letter to the new Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Mr. Asen Gagauzov with a request for access to the declassified contract about the concession of the highway and meeting with the minister. See the attached letter here (in Bulgarian).

Berlin, 22 August  2005 --- The United Nations (UN), development banks, and governments must debar companies from future contracting where sufficient evidence of corruption exists. Danish company Grundfos’ admission of corruption in conjunction with the UN’s Iraqi Oil-for-Food programme provides another startling example of the public interest subverted for private gain.

The UN’s Independent Inquiry Committee on the Oil-for-Food programme has called on at least 140 Danish companies to disclose details of their participation in the controversial initiative. The Danish National Agency for Enterprise and Construction estimates that Danish companies conducted business worth EUR 440 million under the programme.

‘Grundfos is not the only company to have engaged in wrongdoing’, said Jens Berthelsen, Deputy Chairman of Transparency International’s national chapter in Denmark. He urged other companies to cooperate with investigations, adding, ‘An honest admission of wrongdoing is preferable to wilful deceit. The sanctions applied should reflect this.’

‘Corruption can never be tolerated, but it is especially sickening when it diverts resources from public programmes designed to help people desperately in need’, said TI Chairman Peter Eigen.  ‘Where there is sufficient evidence of corruption in the context of Oil-for-Food, companies should be debarred from bidding on future projects, especially in cases where companies have shown no will to co-operate or change their behaviour.’ Eigen continued, saying, ‘On the other hand, premature allegations against individuals driven by political motives, are not productive.’

The unfolding Oil-for-Food scandal shows that governments of wealthy states are failing to fulfill their obligations under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which criminalises foreign bribery for signatories. While the business community in OECD countries has been publicly supportive of curbing corruption, there is a lack of awareness of the Convention among both public and private sector decision-makers. Cumbersome legal procedures and a lack of cross-border co-operation have meant that few cases have been successfully prosecuted under the Convention.

The Oil-For-Food programme, which was in operation from December 1996 until November 2003, allowed Iraq to sell oil to pay for food and humanitarian supplies. The former Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein extorted bribes and surcharges from handpicked buyers of Iraqi oil and vendors of humanitarian goods, and is estimated to have amassed between US$ 1.7 billion and US$ 4.7 billion, according to various studies.

Today, 12.08.2005 (Friday) TI-Bulgaria received a certified copy of report № 319 from the meeting of the Commission on Protection of Competition held on 10.08.2005 (Wednesday) in relation with the earlier requests by the Association for:

1. Investigation on the turnover, realized abroad by the foreign shareholders of the “Highway Trakia” joint –stock company.

2. Signalizing the investigation for conducting an inquiry on the reliability of the statements made in the declaration, issued by MFS - Moniz da Maya (shareholder in the same company), claiming that there are no business activities of the company conducted on the territory of Bulgaria.

The Commission conclusions on the presented report are the following:

1. Repeals the issue upon its merits and returns the correspondence for further examination with demand for a consultative decision by the “Competition” General department of the EU.

2. Presents to the competent Sofia district prosecution the above mentioned declaration with a view to issuing verification on the authenticity of the included facts.

According to the Supreme Prosecution of Cassation the decision of the Council of Ministers for granting a concession on the republican road Trakia is in direct collision with tangible prescriptions of the Law on the Concessions, as well as the overall aim of the law. This makes the decision void, which also applies to the contract, concluded by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works on 20 March 2005.

The arguments expressed in the objection of the Prosecution are in accord with the expert conclusions, made in the interim report of Transparency International - Bulgaria and concerning the legality of the procedures in granting of the Trakia motorway concession.

The international conference “Bulgaria's EU Accession and the Judicial Reform: Challenges before the National Prosecution Office” will be held on June 6, 2005 in Sredetz Ball Room of Sheraton Hotel, Sofia from 9.00 to 17.30 h. The forum is organized by Transparency International – Bulgaria and it is a part of the project “Building Capacity of the National Prosecution Office in the Context of Curbing Corruption in Bulgaria”, which is realized with the kind support of the British Embassy in Bulgaria. Download the agenda of the event here.

The conference is directed to achieving the main project aim – to join the efforts and knowledge of Bulgarian and European experts in order to support capacity building of the National Prosecution Office in the context of curbing corruption. The TI initiative is focused on the National Prosecution office because of its crucial role in preventing and prosecuting corruption in the country.  

The purpose of the forum is to discuss draft proposals for a Communications Strategy and a Strategy for Strengthening the Capacity of the Prosecution Office in Fighting Corruption in the country and to present the experience of prosecutors of European countries in fighting corruption.

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Transparency International-Bulgaria organised a meeting with representatives of the Fraud Investigations department of the Inspectorate General of the European Investment Bank. The meeting included a discussion on the contracting procedure of granting a concession on the Trakia motorway. TI-Bulgaria also presented to the participants its interim report on the Trakia concession deal, including the major violations detected by TI experts in the course of the preliminary investigation. The participants confirmed their desire to continue their cooperation on the issue. 

In the framework of an organized press-conference TI-Bulgaria announced publicly the preliminary results of its investigation on the problems concerning the construction of Trakia motorway as a public-private partnership between the Bulgarian state and "Trakia motorway" joint-stock company. You can download the interim report here.

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Yo can find here the official response of the Secretariat of Transparency International in Berlin recognising the need for independent monitoring of the contracting procedure of granting concession on the Trakia motorway infrastructure project.

On 29 March 2005 the TI–Bulgaria team introduced the initial results of its research on the contracting procedure of the Trakya highway concession deal to representatives of 10 civil organizations. The research includes the basic parameters of the contracting bargain with a view to transparency, legal compliance and expedience of the contract and protection of public interest. Among the participants were representatives of The Bulgarian Media Coalition, The Institute for Market Economics, The Media Development Center, The Open Society Institute - Sofia, ProMedia, The Center for Liberal Strategies, The Center for Economic Development, The European Institute, The Access to Information Programme and The Foundation for Local Government Reform.  

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You can find here the text of the letter.

In the framework of the ongoing campaign of  Transparency International-Bulgaria towards investigating the legal compliance of the contracting procedure of the Trakia motorway the organization submitted an official letter to the minister of regional development and public works Mr. Valentin Cerovski requesting him to let TI-Bulgaria examine the procedure as an independent observer. Download the letter.

On the 11th of March 2005 a policy forum “Promoting Transparency in Political Party Financing in Bulgaria” took place in Sliven.

The second of series of policy forums on the topic “Promoting Transparency in Political Party Financing in Bulgaria” took place in Pleven on the 25th of February 2005. Political party, NGO and media representatives have participated in this forum. Several questions were discussed during the forum: the main forms of political corruption, the principles and standards of transparency and accountability, the best world practices in securing transparent political parties financing.

On 18 February, 2005 the first of series of policy forums on the topic “Promoting Transparency in Political Party Financing in Bulgaria” took place in Smolian. These forums will be organized as part of Transparency International-Bulgaria project “Promoting Transparency in Political Party Financing in Bulgaria”, which is realized with the financial support of the Democracy Commission, Embassy of the United States of America, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Within the forum the results of sociological survey on transparency of political party financing in Bulgaria for Smolian, as well as the Index for transparency of political party financing in Bulgaria were presented. Several crucial questions were discussed as follows: the cost of the non-transparent financing of political parties; the main principles of good financial management; the best practices in securing transparent political party financing; the credits of being accountable.
Political party, NGO, business sector and media representatives took part in the forum.

On 14th of February 2005 Transparency International – Bulgaria announced for second time the Index for Transparency of Political Party Financing in Bulgaria on press-conference in Bulgarian News Agency. The Index is the first of this kind in South-Eastern Europe and is the second time production of the Association team. It is formed by the research fundament taken in October – December, 2004 in the following cities: Sofia, Pleven, Dobritch, Montana, Sliven, Smolian and Blagoevgrad. Four groups of representatives were interviewed – the political parties, the business, the NGOs and the media.

DAVOS, Switzerland - Some of the world's biggest construction and natural-resources companies, their industries beset by corruption investigations around the globe, are starting to coalesce around a plan to clean house themselves.

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