The month of February started at the home of MOVE.BG with a discussion on the theme: “The Cost of Corruption.” On the day of the discussion, the 3rd of February, the European Commission presented its first report on the subject, where corrupt practice is defined as the greatest challenge facing the European Union.
Participants on the topic in the studio were Tihomir Bezlov, security expert at the Center for the Study of Democracy, and Kiril Petkov, entrepreneur and professor of economics. The moderator of the discussion was the founder of MOVE.BG Sasha Bezuhanova.
During the discussion steps were discussed according to ‘Harvard’ way of thinking to reduce corruption, the sectors in which it is common practice and how it is possible to overcome it. Also discussed was a possible realistic approach to the problem and comparative analysis on the corruption situation in other European countries. Could the financial well being of a country decide the fate of corruption? What is the extent of the problem in Bulgaria and how is it possible to solve it?
Discussion summary:
We’re not the most corrupt, at least based on what Eurostat shows. At the forefront is Romania, and Bulgaria fourth, and with this specific detail bagan started the presentation by Bezlov. According to him, we must have a realistic approach when we ask ourselves if we could get to the level of Finland and Denmark. The solution to the problem Bezlov sees is in customs, because 80% of the GDP of Bulgaria passes through it. The security expert stressed that the ‘draining’ of our VAT cost us nearly 3.5 billion levs.
Economist Kiril Petkov defined the difference between a tax and a bribe in full. The subject of his thesis was the claim that the more corrupt a country is, the more oriented tit is towards 2 sectors: defense and infrastructure. There was an emotional response in the MOVE.BG studio on the definition of a ‘bad’ entrepreneur, who lobbied government officials. After explaining the Harvard model for tackling corruption, Petkov stressed that the solution is in harsher penalties and higher wages, but if we do not change our values that we lack in our diseased practices, it will never happen.
