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How is corruption common in Russia? Is possible have business there without bribes?
 
How is corruption common in Russia?
Basically, it is as common as you make it. If you don't want to participate in it, you don't have to. But if you want, you'll find plenty of ways and means. These ways and means are being stomped and hacked and slashed, but so far it looks like a fight against a mythical Hydra beast that grows more heads than you cut off. And still the situation seems to be improving slowly: like I said, it is already possible to stay clean of it if you want to, which was totally impossible in the 90s.

Another aspect is regional. As it's said, "The further into the forest, the fatter are the partisans." The further to the province, the more corruption you'll find. More so if you go to the East and to the South. And yet even there it is improving. Only even slower.

Also, it depends on what business you are in. Some are worse than others, some are better.

Is possible have business there without bribes?
Yes, it is possible. Just harder: while with bribes you only have to pay the right guy, without them you need to know all the applicable rules, track their changes, and actually follow them, which is costly and time consuming. Besides, without bribes you'll have to be honest all the time and never cheat, while with bribes you're free to unless you really lose the sense of reality and go too far with it (then you still get busted and yell about how bad the corruption is because you figure that you simply could not pay enough).

But yes, it is possible to run your operation without bribes.

In fact, with time, more and more people realize that bribing in fact just puts them into a more vulnerable and dependent position, because on top of all the wrong things they had/did for the bribe to become a way out, they also have the wrongness of bribery on their hands for the corrupted authorities to blackmail them with.

So more and more people prefer to run their businesses clean. Though many still have to figure out how that's done...

Why are you people dumb enough to keep supporting an obviously corrupt dictator like Putin?

^Such questions fall into a category that I am going to ignore. Because I am so dumb that I even don't know how to react better, if you like.
 
Which is the least corrupt area/city in Russia today?
 
Which is the least corrupt area/city in Russia today?
The least corrupt - this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalmer-Yu

On a serious note, it depends on what kind of corruption you are talking about. The city where law is most strictly maintained is probably Moscow - there are less chances to encounter "domestic" corruption, such as being mistreated by police, for instance. But it is also a financial and administrative center and if you measure corruption by amount of stolen money, Moscow will be the leader.
 
Which is the least corrupt area/city in Russia today?

Absolutely no idea.

I mean, to reasonably answer that question, I would have to go to every area/city in Russia and test that in every aspect of life, and then I'd probably have to start it all over again because the data I gathered first had become obsolete by the time I finished.

From my experience of Moscow life, I've been able to be corruption-free since 2003.

However, it may be that from different people you'll get different answers.

As I said, corruption is as common as people make it. Some just don't know how to get around without it.

Here's what:

A couple of years ago my son had to be hospitalized. My medical insurance is pretty extended, so it covered that, with private room and 1 parent's stay at the hospital together with the kid, including meals for the accompanying adult.

The moms of other kids in the ward totally didn't believe me that I did not pay anyone at the hospital anything to get those things. No reasoning was enough, they still thought that I gave someone something and just don't want to tell them.

Similarly, some people do sincerely believe that it is impossible to drive on Russian roads and stay away from bribing road police. They also believe it is impossible to drive strictly according to the rules. I know first hand that both are totally possible with absolutely no problem whatsoever.
 
I was thinking that some area was known by Russians to be less plagued by corruption, due to local culture, historical reasons or something.

But it makes sense that Moscow would be cleaner, at least for common people. I could imagine that corruption thrives in smaller towns where everybody is known to everybody and it's harder for people to leave.
 
I could imagine that corruption thrives in smaller towns where everybody is known to everybody and it's harder for people to leave.

Smaller towns may as well be the cleanest, too. Exactly for the reason that everybody is known to everyone and it takes to be a real jerk to stomp on the people you know and you are known to.

Just speculating, because I am not a frequent guest in such towns, so I cannot reasonably say anything about them: neither good, nor bad.
 
Major source of authorities corruption is bureaucracy. In some cases there is a legal way to do things, like collect a ton of necessary documents, or alternatively you can pay money to "expedite" the process. But it also depends on particular case. From my experience, in some fields the situation in Moscow drastically improved in last ~5 years. For example I was amazed when it took me something like 10 minutes to register some real estate documents (whereas ten years ago it required several hours waiting in line). In terms of document processing, these recently created "multi-functional centers" are very fast and convenient. But in other cases (related to military service), it was the same pain as it was in 90-s.
 
How about organized crime? If you open up a business in Russia, how likely it is that you must pay for "protection"?
 
How about organized crime? If you open up a business in Russia, how likely it is that you must pay for "protection"?
I don't have first hand experience with doing business (maybe Daw knows better). From what I heard, organized crime became less of a problem after 90-s, but still may exist in provincial towns. The thing which entrepreneurs complain the most, is rather the problems with governmental inspections (fire safety, stuff like that), unreasonable demands from inspectors, attempts to extort money, etc. The problem was recognized by Putin in one of his recent conferences, but I can't say whether it was addressed and whether the situation changed since then.
 
I guess that, once again, it depends on the region and the type of your business.

I've worked in education (including privately owned commercial courses), translating (a privately owned agency), a few medical research organizations, and now medical equipment trade. I've never faced that, nor heard rumors of that in the companies. Also, never heard of that from my friends.

When things like this reach me, it is either from the news, or some rumors about someone's acquaintance's acquaintance's acquaintance's ... acquaintance. Both come up rarely, and I even can't remember when was the last time.

In the streets, I see that a lot of small businesses like convenience stores, barber's shops, small eateries, etc. get open and closed and open again, like in whatever else big city, I guess. Some are successful enough to stay forever.

A friend of mine organizes parties and concerts in night clubs and restaurants and knows what seems to be a half of the owners or managers of the places in the city. This kind of business probably is the most risky in that regard, and actually associated with crime, but he says it's quiet even there. Their major concern is the police that checks them for the illegal stuff more frequently than they would prefer... But I think that as a citizen I like it more this way than the other.

But it's in Moscow. The further into the forest, the fatter the partisans are. The further you go to the country, the more different the things may get.

_____________________

Edit: practically cross-post with red_elk saying basically the same thing.

The problem was recognized by Putin in one of his recent conferences, but I can't say whether it was addressed and whether the situation changed since then.
According to my observation (which is limited and indirect), things have improved there recently. At least we don't get requests from the hospitals any more to answer supervising authorities bizarre inquiries on equipment we supply. It looks like they've actually read the laws/standards/regulations they are supposed to work under and check the hospitals compliance with after all.
 
And by the way, since I have experience of living in Canada for a while, I think I can answer questions in terms of comparing these two countries in some aspects.
If anybody interested.
 
And by the way, since I have experience of living in Canada for a while, I think I can answer questions in terms of comparing these two countries in some aspects.
Was Harper the Western Putin? :mischief:
 
I don't know TBH, I'm not much into Canadian politics.
Is it the guy who wanted to shirtfront Putin? :)

Here is how it's done properly:
Spoiler :
 
What's the general ideas on the future of the communist party?
Like, do they have any chance? Are they just going to stay the size they are?
Are they getting overrun by the political correctness brigade :crazyeye:
 
What's the general ideas on the future of the communist party?
Like, do they have any chance? Are they just going to stay the size they are?
They are very interesting to observe now.

IMO, for as long as they are led by "papa Zyu" they don't have any chance other than staying where they currently are, which is not very low, in fact.

But they are getting younger members, and some of them, based on what i hear on the radio talk programs I listen to when I'm stuck in traffic with not much to do, are quite reasonable guys, really. If they get more of those, they might take a shot some day.

Kimry and Novosibirsk have elected mayors from the communist party, both since 2014.

Irkutsk region (since 2015) and Oryol region (since 2014) have elected communist Governors.

Are they getting overrun by the political correctness brigade :crazyeye:

I'd say they are somewhat besieged, yes. But not overrun.
 
1. If growth contues as it is it is said the be the Biggest Economy in Europe, or next to Germany, in around 10-20 years

Germany has poured more then 2 Trillion in Euromonies into East Germany to try and "fix" it with limited success. Only now some 25 years later is East Germany starting to improve but is well behind the powerhouse West Germany.
Russia did have a larger economy then West Germany, It wouldnt be that much of a leap for Russia to again have a larger economy once

Question: Why did Russia implode like it did ?
 
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