Corruption is present in all parts of the society.
Twelve percent of Croats would offer money to get or keep their jobs, according to a survey on the problem of fraud in the region of Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA), presented at the conference “Strengthening the Integrity of Croatian Enterprises in Combating Corruption – Challenges of Corporate Compatibility”, reports tportal.hr on December 11, 2017.
The conference, held on the occasion of the International Day of Combating Corruption, was organised by the International Chamber of Commerce of Croatia, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) and the Embassy of Norway. Presenting the results of the research, a manager at Ernst&Young’s fraud investigation department Zorica Palac pointed out that the study was conducted from November 2016 on a sample of 4,100 people from 41 countries, out of which a hundred were from Croatia. The respondents worked at different levels, from ordinary employees to the highest management.
Asked “whether you would offer money to get or keep a job,” 12 percent of Croatian respondents answered in the affirmative. It is interesting to note that employees over 45 years of age were somewhat less ready to engage in corruption – just one in ten respondents would do so.
Furthermore, employees in Croatia do not know whom to report any irregularities related to corruption. On the question of whether “there is part of your organisation to which you can report irregularities,” just six percent of respondents said yes.
On the other hand, as many as 67 percent of Croatian respondents would not report any irregularities, primarily due to fear for personal safety.
At a global level, one of the findings of the research showed that employees in higher positions, rather than those in the lower ones, were willing to provide false information in order to improve their position within the company. “Fraud schemes are becoming more sophisticated and are changing rapidly. The results of the survey also reveal an inadequate awareness of employees, business partners and customers about fraud,” explained Palac.
Vice President of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce for international affairs and EU Želimir Kramarić said that corruption was a destructive and harmful phenomenon that had a negative impact on the economy, as well as that Croatia had its ups and downs in the fight against corruption.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice Juro Martinović believes that corruption is an undesirable social phenomenon which comes in many forms, such as receiving and giving bribes in business, fraud, secret deals and the like.
Deputy head of the European Commission representation in Croatia Mirella Rašić pointed out that corruption was a global problem, present in almost every part of society, and especially in the economy.
Translated from tportal.hr.
