Is there really a fight against corruption in the country?

Baku/23,04.21/Turan: On April 22, the chief doctor of the “Yeni Clinic” Parviz Abbasov and the head of the modular hospital of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Imran Agayev, as well as several employees of these two clinics, were arrested.  Among those arrested is Oruj Mammadov, the chair of the medical and social expert commission N7 of the State Agency for Medical and Social Expertise and Rehabilitation under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population. All of them are accused of taking bribes for admitting coronavirus patients to the clinic for inpatient treatment.

Some experts and the media have already regarded this as a new wave of the fight against corruption. Elman Mammadov, a member of the Milli Mejlis Committee on Defense, Security and Combating Corruption, told Turan about ongoing fight against corruption in Azerbaijan. “As stated by Mr. President, we have declared war on corruption and bribery. That is, work is underway in Azerbaijan in this area and it is periodically reported."

The deputy noted the impossibility to eradicate the problem at once. “You cannot find such a state, such a country, that there is no bribery and corruption there. This problem is widespread throughout the world and has a very ancient history. "

However, the committee member believes that measures are being taken to prevent this: “Various methods are used in the fight. They do not only consist of arrests. There are other methods of struggle - propaganda, education, all kinds of bans, personnel and structural reforms and others. For example, several people were arrested yesterday, and the information about this was disseminated. Now others must conclude from this that such things should not be done. The patients who are fighting the death of people demand money, they say, bring money for treatment; if you do not bring it, then there is no room in the hospital. There is nothing more disgusting than this."

According to Elman Mammadov, the correct position on this issue should be taken not only by official structures, but also by the public: “both the one who receives the bribe and the one who gives it bear the same responsibility. The issue of preventing bribery should also be on the agenda of citizens. Relatives of such patients are forced to give money for some reason; they do it because of despair, sometimes   they do it in order to avoid some kind of crime; sometimes they give a bribe purposefully to get a job, and then they themselves take bribes. I believe that in order to eradicate this scourge, everyone must take the right position in life and show adherence to principles. "

Economist Natig Jafarli told Azadlig Radio that bribes at the household level are often mistaken for corruption in Azerbaijan, “Yesterday's case with doctors is not corruption, but a bribe at the household level. Corruption is a bigger concept."

The expert believes that the main problem in Azerbaijan is budget corruption, “that is, control over the funds allocated from the budget. The main source of corruption is there, and the main goal should be fight against this corruption. If the government wants to fight corruption, then the target is there." Natig Jafarli noted that it is necessary to provide sufficiently transparent information about the amount of funds allocated from the budget, tenders, public procurement: “there is the main problem”.

The economist stressed that a bribe at the household level is also a negative phenomenon, “We also need to fight this and take certain measures. But in general, if the government of Azerbaijan wants to fight corruption, then the main issues are budget transparency and a fair judicial system.”

The expert says that no country in the world has succeeded in bypassing the judicial system, fighting corruption, “In Singapore, one of the most uncorrupted countries today, the first step was judicial reform, then the fight against corruption intensified and a punishment mechanism was created” ...

According to the economist, the situation in the fight against corruption in Azerbaijan is not encouraging. “There are serious problems both with tenders and with state purchases. Even the requirements of the tender legislation itself are violated from time to time. One of the most important provisions in this legislation is the issue of company experience. They should have some experience, but we see that companies created 2-3 weeks ago, registered under several names at the same address with an authorized capital of only 10 manats, participate in public procurement and become “winners”. This in itself gives grounds to say that there are serious problems with corruption in the budget."

Natig Jafarli added that even the facts of non-transparent spending of budgetary funds indicated in the reports of such an official Body as the Accounts Chamber, do not lead to the initiation of criminal cases: “this is nonsense in itself.” - 0-