Experts comment on struggle against corruption in Caucasus

During yesterday's meeting of the Security Council, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the scale of corruption and waste in the North Caucasus. According to Putin, 6.5 billion roubles were embezzled in the region in 2013.

Vestnik Kavkaza discussed the situation surrounding corruption in the Caucasus with the chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, Kirill Kabanov, and the head of the anti-corruption research centre at Transparency International, Yelena Panfilova.

According to Kirill Kabanov, the federal authorities should examine all large-scale projects and force regional officials to prove their necessity. It's also very important to monitor the implementation of such programmes step by step, he said.

It's the federal government that's responsible for the transparency and efficiency of investment projects, he underlined.

Yelena Panfilova stresses that it's necessary to implement the Russian anti-corrruption law. "We have found many violations of the law, " she says. "In Dagestan top officials haven't published their income statements. We have even had to apply to the prosecutor's office."

"What I'm saying is that the current regulations should be fully implemented. No new regulations are necessary. What should be done is to establish the rule of law in the region," she explains.