Russia No. 1 in Economic Crime

The St. Petersburg Times

Companies in Russia experienced more economic crime this year than anywhere else in the world, according to a report released Thursday, which underscores the difficulties facing an ambitious Kremlin plan to curb corruption and lawlessness.

Of 86 companies surveyed in Russia, 71 of them — 82.5 percent — said they had been subjected to at least one major economic crime in the past 12 months, according to a report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“This is a shocking 12 percentage point increase compared with our 2007 research (59%), and is well above the global (30%), Central and Eastern Europe (34%) and BRIC countries (34%),” the report said. The BRIC countries are Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The figures also exceed results in South Africa, where 62 percent of firms reported economic crimes, and Kenya, with 67 percent.

PWC polled executives from more than 3,000 companies working in 55 countries, including 86 representatives of Russia’s biggest companies in various sectors. The poll was anonymous and no companies were identified.