MOSCOW (AP) - Local government officials in the Russian Far East have pocketed billions of dollars in bribes in exchange for jobs and education, a high-ranking official said Saturday.
Konstantin Pulikovsky, the presidential envoy to the Russian Far East, said a report on NTV television news that local officials had accepted up to dlrs 40 billion in bribes - nearly half of Russia's budget - was "practically confirmed."
"It's hard for me to believe these figures, but it's impossible not to accept them," Pulikovsky said in a telephone interview with NTV.
"No matter what problem we take, starting with an elementary question of getting a job, education, any kind of document, getting any kind of quota - for example fishing - all this is followed by this or that kind of bribery at this or that level," he said.
"It's very difficult to determine or prevent such cases," Pulikovsky said. "This is the task of law enforcement organs, so that all questions related to corruption can be revealed and adequate measures taken."
Pulikivsky's comments followed a report last month that the practice of paying bribes for everything from setting up a business to obtaining medical care was costing Russians tens of billions of dollars a year.
In that report, Georgy Satarov, a former Kremlin adviser and president of the INDEM research center said a two-year study showed that Russians spent at least dlrs 37 billion annually on bribes, mostly in business-related bribes.
Satarov said his calculations were based on modest estimates, and could be three times as high.