Page 24 - RusRPTMay21

2.10 Russia’s corruption cases tumble as authorities go after the big fish
The number of corruption cases being brought in Russian courts has tumbled to an eight-year low in 2020, but the amount of money involved in the cases that are pursued has soared as the authorities increasing go after the big fish, according to a report by the independent Open Media news site.
Some 6,948 convictions were handed out for corruption last year — the lowest level since 2012, the site found as cited by the Moscow Times. It marks a continued decline from a high of 11,499 convictions in 2015.
However, the number of convictions related to large-scale bribes of over RUB1mn ($13,000) surged 12-fold since 2012, hitting almost 1,000 last year.
While Russia is seen as notoriously corrupt the Kremlin has been cracking down on the wide spread corruption since 2016 when the Ministry of Finance almost ran out of money and started a hunt for new sources of revenue. A radical reform of the tax service, headed by now Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, increased the tax take in 2018 and 2019 by 20% by closing down many of the scams used to dodge taxes.
At the same time a string of high profile wrongdoers, including senior Russian officials and regional governors have been prosecuted and jailed for demanding bribes.
But the system is imperfect. Less than one in six of the big fish that were put on trial ended up receiving a jail sentence, Open Media said. One in three were handed a suspended sentence and half were issued fines, totalling a combined RUB1.7bn ($22mn).
The share of Russians who say corruption and bribery are an “acute problem” has grown under his presidency and is hovering near record high levels, polling from the independent Levada Center shows. Russians rank it as the country’s third most serious problem — ahead of issues including unemployment, inequality and poor healthcare.
24 RUSSIA Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com