According to the Corruption Perception Index for 2024, published today by Transparency International, global levels of corruption remain alarmingly high, and efforts to curb it have proven unsuccessful.
In this year’s edition of the index, Bulgaria scored 43 points (second only to Hungary among EU countries), which is below the critical threshold of 50 points and signals serious challenges in the fight against corruption in the country.
With a score of 43 points, Bulgaria remains among the countries with high levels of corruption in the public sector: a result of years of superficial efforts and legislative changes that have served kleptocratic circles, under the guise of adopting European standards.
The index, which measures levels of political corruption, shows that political corruption is a barrier to good governance and is incompatible with the functioning of democratic institutions and sustainable economic development.
Foreign investment is at an all-time low. Serious businesses, those that invest for the long term and have both the responsibility and the capacity to positively influence the social environment in the regions where they operate, are leaving the country or are considering doing so. The reason for this is the hostile environment created by an increasing number of regulations that serve no purpose other than themselves and administrative arbitrariness, compounded by the destructive effect of legal uncertainty. All of this prevents planning and long-term, sustainable investment.
An environment in which the tax burden and labor cost planning are unpredictable even within the current year and depend on behind-the-scenes political deals designed to satisfy visible and invisible clientelistic interests makes the business environment toxic.
In describing the social climate, we cannot overlook the fact that, for the first time in the 36-year history of Bulgaria’s democratic transition, the legitimacy of the elections has been seriously called into question.
Even the political parties represented in parliament are questioning the legitimacy of the elections to such an extent that they are leaving the final decision in the hands of the Constitutional Court, whose ruling is unpredictable.
This situation also casts doubt on the legitimacy of the political leadership, which is tasked with carrying out key reforms and making key appointments.
Civil society is facing a series of increasingly fierce attacks aimed at stigmatizing and silencing the voices that call for transparent and accountable institutions, an independent judiciary, respect for human rights, support for vulnerable groups, and environmental protection. These attacks come, among others, from political parties represented in parliament, which have repeatedly introduced a draft bill on the registration of foreign agents in the National Assembly.
It is also extremely alarming that indicators that typically show high scores – those related to the level of democracy (The Varieties of Democracy Project) have declined by 4 points in just one year.
The annual Competitiveness Yearbook, the Institute for Management Development’s report also shows a sharp decline in Bulgaria’s score – 7 points in just one year, which confirms the alarming downward trend in key areas such as governance, economic performance, business efficiency, and infrastructure.
Many countries have their worst rankings in a decade
Many countries have their worst rankings in a decade in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index published by the global anti-corruption movement Transparency International.
These include countries such as the United States and France, as well as countries such as Russia and Venezuela.
Transparency International noted that 47 out of 180 countries recorded their worst performance in the fight against corruption last year since the organization began using its current assessment methodology in 2012.
“Corruption levels around the world remain alarmingly high, while efforts to combat it are waning,” Transparency International warns.
The non-governmental organization working on combatting corruption measures perceptions of corruption in the public sector, basing its findings on data from 13 sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and consulting firms.
In the index, countries are rated on a scale from zero to 100, where zero indicates an “extremely corrupt” country and 100 indicates a “very clean of corruption” country.
The average level of corruption worldwide has not changed compared to 2023 and stands at 43 points. More than two-thirds of all countries assessed scored less than 50 points.
Denmark remains at the top of the rankings with 90 points, having performed the best. Finland is in second place with 88 points, and Singapore is in third with 84.
The bottom three spots are held by Venezuela with 10 points, Somalia with 9 points, and South Sudan with 8 points.
The United States has fallen from 24th to 28th place and has 65 points, down from 69 in last year’s ranking.
France has also dropped in the rankings: in last year’s ranking, it was in 20th place with 71 points, and now it is in 25th place with 67 points.
Source: Club Z