Bribe champion: Critical report on corruption ranks Albania second place

These are the disturbing findings of surveys conducted by the World Bank and the EURZH, which ranks Albania second after Zambia for the high level of bribery.

According to the report, an Albanian company paid during 2019 an average of 3.1% of the annual bribery to state officials, undergoing nearly three-fold increase since 2013.

At this high bribery rate, where an estimated 36% of the surveyed companies claim they have been asked once for a public service, Albania ranks among the countries with the largest level of corruption in the world involving African countries.

In addition to major bureaucracy, corruption creates a highly unfavourable environment of doing business in the country, the report stresses, hampering the development of enterprises.

The three most common cases when state officials ask businesses to pay more bribes, including that of obtaining a construction permit, linking various contracts to the state, and during meetings with tax officials.

And in fact, the latter turns out to be even more disturbing, according to the report, as about 35% of the companies questioned say that during 2019 they have been asked at least once a bribe from taxpayers, which indicates a high level of corruption.

The survey of enterprises that the World Bank and EURZA achieve every six years for each Eastern European and Central Asian country, where businesses are questioned about the business climate, taxes, regulatory environment and, above all, corruption. / T CH