I will be addressing a topic that has been mentioned quite often today and by many speakers and that is, how to control corruption. Controlling corruption is, in my view and increasingly in the view of many analysts of the Baltic region and worldwide, a lynch pin for securing economic progress and democracy. There are people who try to justify corruption as necessary. There is one thesis saying that corruption is useful sometimes to speed economics along. In fact, research shows that the opposite is true.
Corruption acts like sand in the machinery rather than as a lubricant.
Let's look at a few ways in which the cost of corruption affects economic progress. First of all, we all know that corruption discourages local and international investment. Second, corruption undermines the small entrepreneurs since they typically have less resources to use for corruption. And this middle class is very important for the building of democracy. Fourth, it is a myth that corruption increases efficiency.