Today, January 30, 2024, the global anti-corruption movement Transparency International published the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2023.
At the end of 2023, Kazakhstan again found itself among the highly corrupt countries, scoring 39 points out of 100 possible (92nd place among 180 countries). The 3-point improvement over last year is primarily due to the revitalization of civil society after Qantara, which forced government authorities to make some improvements in the areas of anti-corruption reforms, asset recovery and the detention of high-ranking officials and their relatives. Countries with scores below 50 are considered highly corrupt, which hinder the country’s economic development and social well-being of citizens.
Aidar Egeubaev, Chairman of Transparency International-Kazakhstan:
“First of all, you need to understand that the assessment of the CPI is an assessment of the entire country, and therefore society, and the state apparatus is only part of it. Last year we saw some progress from government agencies and these changes, of course, were a response to the most pressing requests of Kazakhstanis. Civil society is starting to wake up. I am confident that with further activation of the entire society aimed at combating and preventing corruption, especially in the oil sector, we will be able to see further positive dynamics for the future of our children.”
Kazakhstan still faces problems such as a lack of transparency in government actions, a lack of full independence of the judiciary, and the use of influence by political elites for their narrow economic interests.
According to the Rule of Law Index , the effectiveness of justice systems around the world is declining. Countries with the lowest rankings on the index also perform very poorly on the CPI, clearly highlighting the link between access to justice and corruption. Where principles of justice are violated—in both authoritarian and democratic countries—corruption increasingly goes unpunished and, in some cases, is even encouraged by eliminating consequences for offenders.
Francois Valerian, Chairman of Transparency International, said:
“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems punish wrongdoing and keep governments in line. Where justice is corrupted or subject to political interference, ordinary people suffer. Leaders must devote every effort to ensuring the independence of institutions that uphold the rule of law and fight corruption. It’s time to end impunity for corruption.”
The Eastern Europe and Central Asia region has an average score of 35 out of 100, making it the second region in the world with the highest levels of corruption. Only one country in the region scored more than 50 points – Georgia (53).
- Kazakhstan (39) showed the best result in history.
- Armenia (47), Moldova (42), Kosovo (41), Ukraine (36) and Uzbekistan (33) have significantly improved their CPI scores over the past 10 years.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (35), Turkey (34) and Turkmenistan (18) decreased their indicators. Turkey also achieved the lowest CPI score, as did Serbia (36), Russia (26) and Tajikistan (20).
- Azerbaijan (23), Tajikistan (20) and Turkmenistan (18) are the lowest in the region.
The Anti-Corruption Foundation “Transparency International – Kazakhstan” calls for the continuation of anti-corruption initiatives, with an emphasis on a comprehensive, transparent and independent fight against corrupt practices. Only through joint efforts can we achieve significant progress and strengthen trust in government institutions.
Translated from Russian thanks to © Google translate
Original article: Transparency International Kazakhstan