Russia And China Come Bottom Of Bribe-Paying Survey
BBC NEWS, BUSINESS
November 2, 2011: Companies from Russia and China are most likely to pay bribes when doing business abroad, a survey suggests. The two scored worst out of 28 countries in a poll of 3,000 business executives conducted by anti-corruption group Transparency International (TI).
The Netherlands and Switzerland came top, while the UK ranked eighth, just ahead of the US and France. Bribery was reportedly most common to win public sector works and construction contracts.
"It is of particular concern that China and Russia are at the bottom of the index," said TI in its report. "Given the increasing global presence of businesses from the countries, bribery and corruption are likely to have a substantial impact on societies in which they operate and on the ability of companies to compete fairly in these markets."
Other major developing economies came much higher up the rankings. India was 19th, while Brazil, in 14th place, was one spot ahead of Italy.
The report called for more international action to outlaw companies from paying bribes in foreign countries.