Crime and corruption in Russia: types, damage to the economy

Crime and corruption in the modern world are very serious problems. Many states suffer from this and take measures to eradicate them. In fact, this phenomenon is primarily a matter of conscience of officials and an indicator of their moral stability.

Corruption and crime in Russia

It is worth noting that in the Russian Federation the indicators of corruption of officials have significantly decreased, if we study the indicators over the past ten years. But a certain part of the country's economy, as before, is in the shadows. This negatively affects the development of many processes. Among them are large-scale purchases, contracts, the construction of new real estate and more. Criminality and corruption are particularly harmful to some business sectors.

The average citizen of the Russian Federation rarely encounters this phenomenon, since honest citizens can live in peace without transferring money to officials. To do this, it is enough to observe the law, pay taxes and not violate traffic rules.

Since the problem is very acute, almost every politician uses in his election campaign promises to fight corruption in the country. In addition, this topic is one of the key ones used by Western countries trying to put pressure on Russia. For example, they argue that it is precisely this moment that causes all the troubles of the Russian Federation, and all the forces of the government should be directed at it.

Damage to the state economy

Crime and corruption cause significant financial losses to the country. In particular, the official data of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation indicate that the annual damage is approximately forty billion rubles. This indicator is significantly lower than in the EU countries.

For the first half of 2015, about 12 thousand criminal cases were opened on the territory of the Russian Federation on the fact of detection of corruption. More than half of them reached the court.

The current state of the problem

Corruption and crime in modern Russia do not have a specific term. The name came from ancient Rome, but it has certain features and is interpreted differently today. In the narrow sense, this is the criminal activity of officials. UN experts have suggested that the term "corruption" abuse of authority for personal gain. That is, the acquisition of material wealth (unofficially), through the official status of a person. Among such crimes distinguish the appropriation of state property, theft, theft by persons with official status.

The spread of this practice in the highest departmental circles provokes its dissemination at the household level. Corruption and criminalization of society develop when personal interests of officials and citizens of the country come to the fore, and not state ones. Illegal actions involve, on the one hand, secrecy, and legal justification, on the other (to make excuses). As a result, there is a certain conspiracy of the parties, one of which has the resources and leverage, the second - an interest in making a concrete decision, and is ready to pay for it.

The Russian Federation is characterized by the systematic nature of this problem:

1. The policy is determined by the private interest of the official (and only they can influence events).
2. The level of shadow incomes exceeds official earnings by several times.
3. Crime and corruption are taken for granted in the country.
4. Executive authorities are not able to stop this type of activity. Moreover, they take an active part in this.

Types of Corruption

You can conditionally divide this phenomenon into domestic and business. In the first case, corruption takes place in the lower authorities, when officials inefficiently fulfill their obligations. The peculiarity of this option is that citizens solve their pressing problems in this way, and the authorities take almost no risk. Moreover, there is no open extortion of money, but there is a kind of “gratitude” in the form of material values.

Business corruption in the highest authorities suggests that the government (high-ranking officials) are unreliable, and the interests of the common people suffer in this case significantly. Unfortunately, people in the country are convinced that the problem cannot be eradicated.