Corruption

Many Turkish institutions cannot operate with transparency and a participatory approach to governance because of the long shadow cast by the executive, according to a new report by Transparency International Turkey after an in-depth analysis of 15 institutions. 

Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday, commenting on the Panama Papers document leak, that Serbian tax authorities "will check everything."

Beta agency is reporting that on Tuesday, the Network for Investigating Crime and Corruption (KRIK) "disclosed the names of 18 persons from Serbia who founded offshore companies through the law firm Mossack Fonseca from Panama."

Only several names of Bulgarian entrepreneurs have surfaced out of the Panama Papers so far, three days after the affair emerged exposing global offshore dealings that involve politicians, celebrities and business people from around the world.

At its regular meeting on Wednesday, the Bulgarian government adopted a draft law on the prevention of corruption and forfeiture of illegally acquired property.

The bill foresees the creation of united anti-corruption body - national bureau for prevention of corruption and forfeiture of illegally acquired property.

Three states in Southeast Europe have been named as the most corrupt countries in the 28-nation bloc, according to a European Parliament study done by RAND Europe and several other organizations and researchers.

Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia top a list where Eastern European countries are all above EU average levels in terms of corruption.

The Council of Europe has called on Turkey to pursue reforms to prevent and curb corruption. In a report published on March 17 by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), a body of the Council of Europe focused on fighting corruption, the need to provide more openness in the parliamentary process was highlighted as a major concern.

One in five people worldwide report having paid a bribe for land, with rates even higher in sub-Saharan Africa where women say they are forced to trade sex for property rights, according to research by a top global anti-corruption watchdog. 

More than two-fifth of Turks have claimed their votes are not swayed by allegations of corruption directed towards political parties, a survey conducted by Transparency International Turkey has shown, underscoring that awareness of corruption cases which directly affect personal finances is not present for political corruption allegations in determining voting behavior.

Nearly two-thirds of Bulgarians approve of the proposed merging of the country's existing anti-graft state agencies into a single body dedicated to fighting corruption, a new survey conducted by Gallup International has shown.

At its regular meeting on Wednesday, the Bulgarian government discussed the edited version of the anti-corruption bill.

The draft law on prevention of corruption and confiscation of unlawfully acquired property will be presented on Wednesday to MPs from the two parties constituting the ruling coalition and the two parties supporting the coalition government.