Over half of Russians (53%) think corruption has increased in their country during the last three years, an opinion poll by Transparency International has indicated.
The Berlin-based non-governmental anti-corruption organization Transparency International has persistently rated Russia one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In the 2010 Corruption Perception Index, Russia was ranked 154th of 178, below countries like Kenya, Laos and Papua New Guinea.
The poll, called The Global Corruption Barometer, was carried out for Thursday's International Anti-Corruption Day.
In the opinion poll, 1,500 people were asked about corruption-related situations they have faced in their everyday life. 23% said they had given a bribe to a service provider in the past 12 months.
"As a whole, the results of the opinion poll show that increasing corruption in Russia is not unnoticed by the public and a growing number of people are ready to support anti-corruption initiatives," Yelena Panfilova, director of the Transparency International Center in Russia, said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev admitted earlier this year that his anti-corruption drive had so far yielded few practical results.
MOSCOW, December 9 (RIA Novosti)
