Corruption is a major setback to development worldwide. The situation of corruption in Russia is one such case. Up to the early 18th century, government officials were allowed by law to engage in bribery activities. This trend took a break in 1715 with the coming to power of Peter the great. He introduced fixed salaries for all those working for the government.
His attempt to fight this vice however proved futile as there were too many government employees. Most of those in the lower ranks did not receive regular salaries forcing them to seek illegal alternatives to earn a living. After his death, the officials simply went back to the vice in order to earn a living. Anyone who wanted to invest in a particular area had to bribe the government representative around in order to have a permit.
This trend was to continue up to the reign of Catherine the second who introduced paper money. However this did not help much as bribery was still a normal activity in all spheres of the economy. Efforts to curb this vice were further frustrated by lack of security in the bureaucracy. Paper money also greatly lost value compared to metallic money by the early 19th century.
In 1922, Russia declared this vice a counter voluntary activity. It became a crime punishable by death. There was however lack of proper enforcement to this law. With time, Russians went back to corruption and continues to practice it to date with the authorities casting a blind eye. It is widely practiced in all parts of this country.
Even in the present day, leadership still makes the ordinary citizens meet the cost of government related activities. Opposition and Critics argue that this indirectly legalizes bribery. In contrast, the government views it as a way of facilitating delivery of services to the citizens.
Russia was once among the leading economies in the world. The situation of corruption in Russia has seen it loose significantly to other economies that are seriously fighting this vice. Learning from the past is an upcoming provision to the present situation. Embracing the culture of fighting this impunity to restore the lost glory is proving the only suitable alternative.
His attempt to fight this vice however proved futile as there were too many government employees. Most of those in the lower ranks did not receive regular salaries forcing them to seek illegal alternatives to earn a living. After his death, the officials simply went back to the vice in order to earn a living. Anyone who wanted to invest in a particular area had to bribe the government representative around in order to have a permit.
This trend was to continue up to the reign of Catherine the second who introduced paper money. However this did not help much as bribery was still a normal activity in all spheres of the economy. Efforts to curb this vice were further frustrated by lack of security in the bureaucracy. Paper money also greatly lost value compared to metallic money by the early 19th century.
In 1922, Russia declared this vice a counter voluntary activity. It became a crime punishable by death. There was however lack of proper enforcement to this law. With time, Russians went back to corruption and continues to practice it to date with the authorities casting a blind eye. It is widely practiced in all parts of this country.
Even in the present day, leadership still makes the ordinary citizens meet the cost of government related activities. Opposition and Critics argue that this indirectly legalizes bribery. In contrast, the government views it as a way of facilitating delivery of services to the citizens.
Russia was once among the leading economies in the world. The situation of corruption in Russia has seen it loose significantly to other economies that are seriously fighting this vice. Learning from the past is an upcoming provision to the present situation. Embracing the culture of fighting this impunity to restore the lost glory is proving the only suitable alternative.
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