TI's Corruption Perception Index 2019: Georgia holds strong, Armenia soars
Transparency International has published its Corruption Perception Index for 2019.
Since 1995, this report has been compiled on the basis of a survey of business owners and experts on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the worst score.
Regions: Leaders and Laggards
In 2019, 180 countries were assessed, divided into six regions.
The best among them in the fight against corruption were the countries of the European Union and Western Europe, with an average score of 66.
Sub-Saharan Africa scored the lowest, with 32 points.
The regions of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to which Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia belong, was just a little ahead in the world regional ranking fifth of the six regions, with 35 points.
Among all the countries covered by the Transparency International report, the best results were shown by New Zealand (87 points) and Denmark with Finland (each 86 points).
The worst indicators were in Syria (13 points), South Sudan (12 points) and Somalia (9 points).
Countries of the South Caucasus
In their region (Eastern Europe and Central Asia), the three leaders are Georgia (56 points) and Belarus and Montenegro (each 45 points). All three countries received a rating that is above the world average.
The last places in the region was Turkmenistan (19 points) and Uzbekistan with Tajikistan (each 25 points).
Azerbaijan received the same 31 points as in 2018, without showing any progress. But at the same time it overtook countries such as Russia, Iran and Ukraine.
Armenia scored 42 points – 7 more than a year ago. Transparency International believes that after the change of power in 2018, the country has good chances for positive changes in the fight against corruption. At the same time, China was left behind with 40 points.
The biggest disappointment in this region is Turkey, with 39 points. Over the past 7 years, Turkey has lost 10 points in the anti-corruption rating.
Conclusions
The main problems of the region to which the countries of the South Caucasus belong, Transparency International believes to be:
•Conflict of interest
•Opaque party funding
•Weak separation of powers
On a global scale, according to the organization, stagnation or even regression is taking place in the fight against corruption. The source of the difficulties remains the same: the merging of money and political power.
