Russian authorities are fighting corruption to bring order to the country, not to please foreign investors, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
Foreign investors see corruption in law enforcement and the judiciary as one of the most negative aspects of the investment climate in Russia.
“I would like to say that if we started using this criteria, it would be very difficult to work with the majority of states that exist on our planet,” Medvedev said referring to corruption in business. “Unfortunately, corruption as a social phenomenon exists everywhere and [I] will tell you, perhaps, a secret you do not know, that [corruption exists] in Britain too. Nonetheless, we trade with Britain and are ready to invest in the British economy.”
Russia must continue the fight against corruption.
“Unfortunately, this problem is very far-reaching in our country and in order to overcome it, we need to implement systemic measures,” Medvedev said. “And not just in order to please foreign investors, but to restore order in our economy, we will deal with this.”
Earlier this year Medvedev identified several steps Russia would take to uproot rampant corruption, including genuine investigations into corruption related crimes, punishing those guilty of such crimes, introducing modern methods of accounting, requiring all state and government officials to file tax declarations, and reforming the judiciary and the law enforcement system.