Hungary 2nd Most Corrupt In EU, Transparency International Reports
- 27 Jan 2020 8:05 AM
- Budapest Business Journal
Hungary fell six places in Transparency Internationalʼs (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index compared to the last edition of the report, putting the country in joint-70th place alongside Romania and South Africa.
Hungary achieved a total of 44 points out of 100 (a lower score represents higher perceived corruption). In the EU, only Bulgaria scored lower (43 points).
"Most post-communist EU member states are struggling to address corruption effectively," the report by TI says regarding the low scores by countries in the CEE region. "Several countries, including Hungary, Poland, and Romania, have taken steps to undermine judicial independence, which weakens their ability to prosecute cases of high-level corruption."
“Hungary has demonstrated favorable economic growth rates during the past seven years, however, long-term prospects are gloomy and competitiveness remains among the lowest in the region," József Péter Martin, executive director of TI Hungary argues.
"This is mostly caused by the significant influence of state institutions over part of the economy, as well as the non- transparent and unaccountable functioning of these institutions.
The system of public procurements is heavily distorted, and concentration is apparent in government-friendly oligarchs winning ever more procurements, and the proportion of single-bid procedures being one of the highest in Europe," he adds.
In the previous version of the Corruption Perceptions Index, Hungary received 47 points, enough for 64th place.
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