There seems to be a slight difference between the opinion of Slovak executives and recent EU statistics as more than 80% of managers and executives in Slovakia believe that corruption is widespread compared to the EU figure of 62 %.
The Slovak number comes from a recent survey conducted by Ernst & Young, in which more than two- thirds of management executives in Slovakia who participated in the pan-European survey said they believe that offering personal gifts, promotional back-handers or bribes in cash are acceptable means to secure contracts.
“Fraud is flourishing in many European companies. Tolerance of unethical behavior persists and managers fail to give a good example to others,” manager of the investigative services and dispute settlement division at Ernst & Young, Radoslava Staronova, is cited as saying by SITA newswire as she presented the research conclusions this week.
Contrary to general belief regarding corruption in Slovakia, a mere 5% of participants in the survey admitted to such practices within their own companies over the past two years, which is the lowest figure of all countries taking part in the survey. Only seven percent believe that regulators and competent authorities are willing to sanction tougher anti-corruption measures.
The poll of Ernst & Young included 2,365 respondents from 25 countries in Europe in January and February 2011, with only one hundred being from from Slovakia. It would be interesting to know what number of these shady deals are conducted in respect of government tenders and the allocation of E.U structural funds etc.