Corruption Escalation, Consequences Devastating: BiH Ranks 91st out of 180 Countries

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina (TI BiH) presented the results of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2017, which Transparency International annually ranks countries worldwide based on the perceived level of corruption in the public sector.

Bosnia and Herzegovina received a score of 38 this year, on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the highest level of perceived corruption and 100 the lowest level of corruption, and ranks 91st out of a total of 180 countries included in the survey. BiH shares its CPI ranking with Albania, Guyana, Sri Lanka, and East Timor.

Comparing results over the past six years, where scores ranged from 42 in 2012 and 2013, the highest score in this period, to 38 in 2015 and 2017, it is evident that BiH has not only made no progress but has regressed. Regarding the Western Balkans region, BiH remains below Croatia (score 49, 57th place), Montenegro (score 46, 64th place), Serbia (score 41, 77th place), and Kosovo (score 39, 85th place), while below BiH is Macedonia, which has regressed the most in the region (ranking 107th with a score of 35). This year's CPI shows a worrying fact that despite the increasing global focus on fighting corruption, a large number of countries, including BiH, are too slow in their efforts and have made no progress in the last six years.

Srđan Blagovčanin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TI BiH, emphasized that the escalation of the corruption problem represents a ticking time bomb for the country.

- We have the opportunity to see the devastating consequences of corruption every day - the mass exodus of BiH citizens from the country, because they cannot get a job opportunity in the country due to clientelist hiring, the unpunished embezzlement of millions of budget funds are just the most visible among them. Likewise, there is no institution that has not been devastated due to political control, which puts prospects for a more successful fight against corruption in a very distant perspective - said Blagovčanin.

TI BiH emphasized at the presentation that encouragement and a kind of opportunity is represented by the new European Union strategy for the Western Balkans, which unequivocally highlights the state's capture by the political elite as a key problem, and the establishment of the rule of law as the most important priority.