Fighting Corruption in Public Services: Chronicling Georgia's Reforms
A new World Bank report “Fighting Corruption in Public Services: Chronicling Georgia’s Reforms,” praised Georgia’s success in fighting corruption in the public sector. The World Bank said that many of Georgia’s policies could be adapted and applied in countries facing serious corruption problems in the public services.
World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Region Philippe Le Houérou stressed that corruption can be seen as endemic, traditional, and even inevitable. “Georgia’s experience shows that the vicious cycle of endemic corruption can be broken and, with appropriate and decisive reforms, can be turned into a virtuous cycle,” he added.
Since the Rose Revolution at the end of 2003 and election of Mikhail Saakashvili as President in 2004, Georgia made a noteworthy progress in fighting corruption in its public sector. In less than a decade, it virtually eradicated corruption and was elevated in public perception of corruption to the levels above some EU member states such as Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Romania.
