The 2010 Global Corruption Barometer of Transparency International indicates that corruption in Slovakia is worse than in its western neighbours. The publishing of the survey coincides with International Anti-corruption Day today, 9 December.
The barometer questioned some 90,000 people in 87 countries, which included Slovakia for the first time this year, and claims that a quarter of Slovak households have been involved in bribery in the health service, for example. This has been a long-standing tradition in the Slovak health service, dating back to communist times when a bottle of alcohol or box of chocolates was almost mandatory to get things done.
The highest percentage of bribes reported by Slovak respondents was reported at land planning authorities with 15.8% and in the courts, 14.8%. As many as 36.9% of those asked in Slovakia felt that businesses were corrupt, while state administration failed to get the trust of 25.9%.
Head of Transparency International Slovensko, Gabriel Sipos, noted that whereas one in sixteen people in Europe have paid a bribe sometime in the past year, this figure was one in four for Slovakia.