One-Stop Shop Continue to Be Effective Anti-Corruption Tool
A 2009 surveyon corruption in business regulationsindicatedadecreasein the fraction of One Stop Shop users involved in corruption. However, the number of victims of corruption in traditional permit system increased significantly.
Between November 2007 and March 2008 Promoting Active Citizen Engagement in Combating Corruption in Ukraine (ACTION) Project in cooperation with the Research Company InMind conducted a baseline survey focusing on the problem of corruption in construction and land transactions permitting of enterprises that used traditional and OSS systems. An identical follow-up survey was conducted in February-April 2009 to assess the impact of the new OSS centers, as well as trends in corruption over the intervening year.
According to the survey results, enterprises that used the traditional permit system noted a significant increase in the level of corruption in comparison with the previous year. In contrast to traditional permit system users, OSS clients noted that the number of enterprises experiencing corruption in the process of obtaining construction and land transactions permits decreased by 7% and 18% respectively.
Moreover, types of corrupt practices have changed over the past year. Extortion was more frequent for businesses that used the traditional system, and substantially rare for the OSS system users, decreasing from 17% in 2008 to only 6% in 2009. Frequency of voluntary bribing decreased in both traditional and OSS systems. However, the use of personal connections increased among the traditional permit system users and decreased for the OSS users from 26% to 15%.
The OSS system was perceived as the most effective anti-corruption tool in land and construction permitting enterprises. The survey showed an increasing number of companies that prefer OSS system. Thus, the OSS system was far more effective in comparison with the traditional approach.
Svitlana Horna, the Monitoring Activity Manager of the ACTION Project noted: “We can assume that the reason behind the change in corrupt practices is a result of the financial crisis, as voluntary bribing decreased in both construction and land transactions in traditional permit system. However, despite a drop in construction business, extortion is still widespread. While a decreased interest in land transactions impacted the frequency of extortion, the level of corruption remains the same.”
Effectiveness of government anti-corruption programs. Less than a half of 2009 survey participants believe that government is working to reduce corruption in the permit issuing system (34% in land operations and 45% in construction). These numbers are smaller than data from 2008 survey. A similar percentage of companies believe that government actions are effective (32% of those that obtained land permits, and 36% of companies that obtained construction permits).
Survey methodology and sample size: The survey was conducted using a combined methodology. The quantitative survey included companies with the experience of obtaining land operations permits (N=138) and construction permits (N=136) using traditional system, and companies which received land operations permits (N=54) and construction permits (N=53) through the OSS. The qualitative survey included in-depth interviews with experts on administrative procedures, representatives of authorization bodies directly overseeing issues of regulatory policy in the area of land and construction, and business consumers of regulatory services such as companies requesting permits. The survey was conducted in all regions of Ukraine including Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Information about the project
Promoting Active Citizen Engagement (ACTION) in Combating Corruption in Ukraine Project is implemented by Management Systems International (MSI) with the support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The Project is a two and a half year activity that supports non-governmental monitoring and advocacy organizations in combating corruption, focusing particularly on issues identified by the Government of Ukraine in its Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Threshold Country Plan. One of the important aims of the project is collecting and promulgating of objective data on the state of corruption in Ukraine.
