Transparency International praises Georgia for reducing military corruption

World leading anti-corruption, non-profit organisation Transparency International (TI) is praising Georgia for carrying out reforms and reducing the level of corruption in its military sector.

A report by TI claimed Georgia has "significantly upgraded its anti-corruption activities” in the defence sector since the current Government took office in 2012.

The risk of corruption in Georgia’s defence sector has lessened in recent years, according to the 2015 Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index of Transparency International, which ranks Georgia in Band C – moderate risk of corruption – alongside France, Italy and Greece. In 2013, Georgia ranked in Band D meaning it was posed a high risk of defence corruption,” said TI.

The Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index (GI) assessed the existence and effectiveness of institutional and informal controls to manage the risk of corruption in defence and security institutions and of their enforcement.

The recent report focused on 33 countries that were North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member or partner nations. The report showed that across the NATO member and partner countries, standards varied widely.

There were five different bands offered in the survey:

• A-Very low corruption;
• B-Low corruption;
• C-Moderate corruption;
• D-High corruption; and
• E-Very high corruption;

The United Kingdom (UK) topped the table in Band A, outperforming many European neighbours in areas such as whistleblowing and procurement.

Georgia is one of the main contributors for NATO peacekeeping missions. Photo by the Defence Ministry of Georgia.

The United States (US), Germany and the Netherlands ranked in Band B. Georgia – Band C – ranked higher than Portugal, Ukraine, Turkey and Armenia, who all ranked in Band D, as well as Azerbaijan who ranked even lower in Band E.

TI stressed since Georgia joined NATO’s Building Integrity Program in 2013, it had rolled out a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy and implementation plan, which had brought "impressive reforms” across the military sector.

According to the TI report, the major challenge now facing the Georgian military was sustaining the pace of reforms and implementing much-improved legal and institutional regulations.

TI acts in more than 100 countries with the aim to fight and defeat corruption through its activities, financed programmes and projects.