President of Transparency International: no war against Putin's regime can be won without tackling corruption

"Lithuania is at the forefront of Europe and the world in the fight for democracy and against kleptocracy", says François Valérian, Chairman of Transparency International's Global Board. While the tools to fight corruption are available, he says, what is lacking are appropriate sanctions and the full enforcement of the law: in many countries around the world, corrupt individuals go unpunished.

François Valérian, chairman of Transparency International, told LRT.lt that the world's largest anti-corruption conference, IACC 2024, will be held in Vilnius in June, bringing together the world's most important leaders concerned about the fight against corruption. Representatives from politics, business, civil society organisations, as well as young activists and journalists from 140 countries will attend.

Valérian said that Lithuania was chosen for this year's conference because other countries have a lot to learn from Lithuania in the fight against corruption.

"Lithuania is at the forefront of Europe and the world in the fight for democracy and against kleptocracy. This means that it is fighting corruption. Another very important thing for us is that Lithuania takes corruption very seriously. Both by citizens and by the authorities. Corruption is treated as a major national security threat," Mr Valérian told LRT.lt.

"According to Mr Valérian, Transparency International's Lithuanian division has been working with 75% of the country's municipalities for several years. These municipalities have a so-called participatory budget, where citizens can propose their own ideas on how to use part of the municipal budget. This is called open government.

This is a significant step forward, at least at local level, towards open government, he said, and at the same time it is a powerful tool to reduce corruption.

"We have a culture of secrecy, which is very much linked to the amount of power we have had throughout Europe and the world for centuries. This is also a cultural struggle that is ongoing, and that is why we are striving for a more open government, one that is not afraid to discuss with citizens how their taxes will be used," said the Chairman of Transparency International.

The health sector has the highest risk of corruption

One of the areas vulnerable to corruption is health care institutions, where problems arise not only in Lithuania but also worldwide. Often innocent-looking bribes are the result of inadequate regulation, low salaries for healthcare workers, complex bureaucratic procedures and lack of transparency. Socio-economic factors and political instability can also have a significant impact on corruption and the fight against it.

"According to our data, the health sector is identified as having the highest risk of corruption", said Mr Valérian.

Transparency International monitors this area through the Global Corruption Barometer, which is based on the principle that citizens themselves report on recorded corrupt practices.

It shows that the highest levels of bribes to date have been paid for surgical procedures, as well as for nurses' care.

"Many people, not only Lithuanians, think that this is normal practice and has always been the case, but it is clearly detrimental to the common good. It favours people who have money and harms those who don't," said Mr Valérian.

Corruption is punished too lightly in many countries

Mr Valérian believes that the penalties for corruption depend on the scope and nature of the crime itself, but that the most important thing is to have some sanctions in general. In many countries around the world, he said, the most corrupt criminals are not sanctioned at all. Corruption thrives without punishment.

"This is the paradox of our times, because anti-corruption movements are growing, and in recent decades they have been very successful in ensuring that laws, institutions, international treaties and even the United Nations Convention and other written instruments against corruption are signed and ratified by parliaments.

But still, corruption crimes go unpunished. Corrupt or corruption-prone individuals commit crimes because they lack ethical principles and are seeking either to enrich themselves or to gain a position of power. They see that there is no sanction, so they continue their activities and harm society as a whole, because corruption is not a victimless crime", said Mr Valérian.

In such cases, simply having laws does not help, and the fact that law enforcers in the law enforcement system themselves are subject to bribes is an additional obstacle. International cooperation is also crucial in the fight against corruption, as it is not uncommon for people to steal in one country and then invest the ill-gotten gains in another, buying real estate, etc.

Technology both harms and helps

He mentioned that nowadays, technology is also a major contributor to corruption. According to him, they both help people to commit crime and fight corruption. For example, cryptocurrencies can be used on many platforms and exchanged for other currencies, services or goods.

The problem is that many of these platforms are poorly regulated. It is much quicker and more efficient to launder ill-gotten money through cryptocurrency platforms than through offshore centres or islands in the West Indies.

This is a huge concern at the moment, because cryptocurrency platforms exist somewhere in the online universe, virtually unregulated by anyone, with little access to regulatory authorities.

"These are tools or venues in which a global corrupt economy thrives, and within it we have a fragmented political world with as many countries as there are in the world. This is why we need a global alliance against this misuse of technology", said Mr Valérian.

On the other hand, technology also helps in the fight against corruption. For example, there are special apps where people can report cases of corruption that they have observed or crimes that they have experienced themselves. Such apps are available both from international organisations and local authorities.

Artificial intelligence also offers many opportunities, Mr Valérian pointed out, as it can analyse big data.

"Corruption is secret by definition. Its impact can be identified by analysing huge amounts of data. This is not possible for humans, but machines can do it, as long as we have the right equipment, algorithms and can use them. The Baltic countries are quite advanced in this area compared to other European countries," said the Chairman of Transparency International.

Ukraine is being rescued from corruption, while Russia is sinking deeper into it

The conversation also touched on one of today's most pressing topics - the dark Soviet legacy that still haunts war-torn Ukraine, where corruption is still deeply rooted. Transparency and accountability across the country have long meant little and threatened Ukraine's economic future and the well-being of its people.

Only last year, a survey carried out by the United States Agency for International Development in Ukraine showed that 94% of respondents said that they believed that corruption was widespread in one way or another. Gifts, bribes to authorities for permits or certificates, under-the-table payments for enrolment in educational institutions and other corrupt practices are still quite common.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who won the 2019 presidential elections, has made changes: he has set up oversight bodies and sacked compromised government officials.

Ukraine is still seen by many in the West as a corrupt country, and the United States has previously warned that allies' solidarity with Ukraine could erode unless additional concrete steps are taken to stop corruption.

Indeed, as Mr Valérian explained to LRT.lt, corruption in Ukraine is still a major problem. It has flourished for many years because the same corrupt individuals, kleptocrats, have been operating in both Russia and Ukraine, making deals and siphoning off money across Europe.

Although the problem still exists at a certain level, the situation has changed considerably, and Ukraine has become much more aware of the issue. There is a strong realisation that no war against a kleptocratic regime such as Putin's can be won without overcoming corruption.

"We see the opposite evolution in Putin's Russia. Now the laws have become more favourable to corrupt people, they face fewer risks. This trend has been observed since the beginning of the war", said Mr Valérian.

He said that he was not referring to Russia itself, but to the Putin regime in particular. He said he hoped that things would be different one day.

"We have a division of Transparency International in Russia. It is a very brave unit that is currently in exile. They are working on the problem of abuse of power in Russia. This gives me hope <...>.

I really hope, not only as chairman of this global anti-corruption movement, but also as a European, that one day democracy and freedom will return to Russia, and that the level of corruption will be much lower, for the benefit of all the people," Valérian told LRT.lt.

LRT.lt interview, interviewed by Patricija Kirilova