Georgia’s Defence Anti-Corruption Index Improved
Friday, December 11
Georgia has achieved significant progress in improving the corruption environment and moved from the Band D (denoting a high risk of corruption) to Band C (denoting a moderate risk of corruption).
The Deputy Minister of Defence of Georgia, Besik Loladze, introduced the news to the representatives of media at the briefing held in Defence Ministry. He informed journalists about the implemented reforms in defence sector aimed at elimination of corruption risks and increasing transparency of the institution.
The report about the Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index was published by Transparency International UK in 2015. Georgia is in Band C, along with countries like France, Italy, South Korea, Poland, etc. The detailed assessment covers five prominent risk areas in the sector: politics, finance, personnel, operations, and procurement. Georgia scored higher for Personnel and Operations.
The Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index was published for the first time in 2013 and analyzed what 82 countries did to reduce corruption risks according to 2011-2012 years data. In 2013 Georgia, was in Band D (denoting a high risk of corruption) along with Bangladesh, Belarus, Russia, Ghana, Rwanda, China, etc.
Georgia’s success is a result of the successful reforms implemented in the defence sphere. After publishing the report of Transparency International in 2013, Georgia actively started to improve the existing environment. Georgia joined the NATO Building Integrity (BI) program and used NATO and Transparency International’s self-assessment and training tools to formulate a comprehensive and thorough anti-corruption plan. Successful reforms were implemented to improve access to public information, the relationship with the Georgian Parliament, public and media, personnel management, procurement and other spheres.
According to Deputy Defence Minister, the Georgian Defence Ministry will consider recommendations given in the 2015 report and continue the implementation of reforms.