Political parties, public tenders are core of Czech corruption

The new anti-corruption strategy will be presented by Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake, in charge of cooperation of struggle against corruption, later today.

The economic losses caused by corruption reach tens of billions of crowns a year, according to estimates. Corruption needs to be limited within the effort at budget responsibility, one of the government priorities, the report on the strategy says.

"Systemic corruption takes the form of organised crime," however, it is not that typical organised crime groups would penetrate state administration, the report says.

The frauds and stealing of public finances is often organised by legal entrepreneurs connected with senior officials of the public sector, it adds.

To reveal this kind of corruption and money laundering and seize the illegal profits, an intensive cooperation between the police, state attorneys, tax offices and the Financial Analytical Office (FAU), is needed.

The government will discuss the anti-corruption strategy two weeks after President Vaclav Klaus declared an extensive amnesty that was criticised because it halted the criminal prosecution of several major corruption cases.

The high corruption level creates a bad image of the country abroad, discouraging potential investors, and it leads to a growing lack of confidence of the Czech citizens in politics in general, the report indicates.

Priorities of the Czech anti-corruption strategy for 2013-14:

- Law on civil servants

The law should clearly define basic duties of a clerk, make public administration independent of politics, lower the risks of corruption among civil servants.

- Law on conflicts of interests

The law should make the incomes and property of public officials more transparent and eliminate conflicts of interests.

- Law on free access to information

The law should provide quicker and easier access to information, increase public supervision over the decision making of public offices, and simplify identification of cases of suspected corruption, i.e. point to clerks whose life style or property do not correspond to their salaries.

- Identification of real owners

New rules should guarantee more transparent legal relations between a public body and a private company or an individual applying for a public order or licence.

- Amendment to Penal Code

The amendment should weaken the motivation to act in a corrupt way.

- Protection of whistle-blowers

The new rules should improve the protection of those who report corruption and related crimes.

- Bank secrecy

More effective and cheaper obtaining of data on the property that might be gained due to profits from criminal activities.

- Seizure of property

The proved cases of corruption should be strictly punished, including the seizure of illegally gained property.

- Financial checks and audits

The law on financial checks in public administration should be more enforceable, checks should be more thorough.

- State property politics

New rules should prevent projects and intentions related to corruption, or with too high corruption risks involving state-run companies, from being implemented.

- Law on state attorney´s offices

State attorneys should be more independent and more responsible in criminal cases.

- Personnel policy in public administration

Personnel policy in state administration should be introduced.

- Open data

Data created in the sphere of public administration should be generally available.

- Transparent contracts and bids

All transfers related to public property and public finances should be transparent, public supervision should increase, cases of disadvantageous handling of state property should be identified more easily.

- Clear state budget

Open information on finances in the state budget, increased public control.

- Release of all consultants and advisory bodies

The names of all advisors and advisory bodies should be available in order to avoid favouritism and corruption links.

- Supreme Audit Office (NKU) checks

The NKU checks should be enforceable, more effective.

($1=19.201 crowns)

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz