Radio Slovakia International

Transparency International Warns of Deteriorating Corruption Index

RSI

Corruption in the public sector in Slovakia has begun to increase again after falling for a long period, according to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2009 published by Transparency International Slovakia on Tuesday. The index is assessed on a scale ranging between 0-10, with 0 representing a very corrupt country and 10 signalizing an unblemished reputation. Slovakia was put at 4.5 compared to 5.0 last year, putting the country in 56th to 60th place out of 180 countries, while it was in 49-50th place in 2008. Slovakia has even fallen behind its fellow Visegrad Four (V4) members - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - for the first time since 2001. Transparency International said Slovakia’s assessment was mainly made worse by the unexplained financial situation of certain politicians, badly-managed procurements, the results of inspections at ministries and developments in the judicial system.