POSTED AT 9:44 AM EDT Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004
Oil leads to corruption, survey finds
Associated Press
London — Most oil-producing nations are also rife with corruption, and oil companies should provide more information about their operations to help clean up the market, a global watchdog group said Wednesday in an annual report.
Angola, Azerbaijan, Chad, Ecuador, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Sudan, Venezuela and Yemen scored very low in clean government practices, said Transparency International chairman Peter Eigen in releasing the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2004.
"In these countries, public contracting in the oil sector is plagued by revenues vanishing into the pockets of Western oil executives, middlemen and local officials," he said.
Corruption index
Least Corrupt
1. Finland 9.7
2. New Zealand 9.6
3. Denmark 9.5
3. Iceland 9.5
5. Singapore 9.3
6. Sweden 9.2
7. Switzerland 9.1
8. Norway 8.9
9. Australia 8.8
10. Netherlands 8.7
12. Canada 8.5
17. United States 7.5
Most corrupt
133. Angola 2.0
133. DR of Congo 2.0
133. Ivory Coast 2.0
133. Georgia 2.0
133. Indonesia 2.0
133. Tajikistan 2.0
133. Turkmenistan 2.0
140. Azerbaijan 1.9
140. Paraguay 1.9
142. Chad 1.7
142. Myanmar 1.7
144. Nigeria 1.6
145. Bangladesh 1.5
145. Haiti 1.5
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (most corrupt) to 10 (least corrupt).
Mr. Eigen said oil companies could help stamp out corruption by publishing details of the fees, royalties and other payments made to governments and state oil companies.
Transparency International said 146 countries were surveyed for the report — not just oil-producers — and it found corruption rampant in 60 nations.
The survey, with a top score of 10 being the least corrupt, found that 106 scored lower than a 5.
Bangladesh, Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Paraguay were perceived to be the most corrupt, all scoring lower than 2.
Canada, with a score of 8.5, fell to 12th place, just ahead of Austria and Luxembourg. In 2003, Canada scored an 8.7 to rank 11th in a tie with Luxembourg and Britain.
The United States ranks number 17, with a score of 7.5, tied with Belgium and Ireland.
The index is compiled from a series of polls on perceptions of corruption made by independent organizations. This year's report is based on 18 surveys conducted since 2002 by a dozen groups. The index rates only those countries that appear in three or more surveys.
Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Iceland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland were rated the least corrupt, all scoring higher than 9 out of 10 on the index.
Compared with last year's report, corruption was perceived to be worse in Bahrain, Belize, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Oman, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Improved scores were recorded by Austria, Botswana, Czech Republic, El Salvador, France, Gambia, Germany, Jordan, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Uruguay, Transparency International said.