Corruption and cronyism exceed the levels in most of Western Europe, but the state functions reasonably well. The fourth and fifth categories score highly on just one of these measures. Armenia, for example, reportedly has very high levels of administrative corruption and a moderate level of state capture. In contrast, Latvia and Croatia are in the reverse situation, according to the survey. The World Bank survey permits one to determine whether state capture is most serious in the legislature, the office of the president, the central bank, or the courts.
Countries differ in their rankings on the individual components of the index.
Thus Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Slovakia have particularly dysfunctional central banks while the legislature and the office of the president stand out in Ukraine and in Latvia. The Bulgarian system of political party finance seems particularly weak. Some countries, such as Azerbaijan, Russia, and Ukraine, have major problems across the board. Past practices may have permitted funds to slip out into the pockets of powerful private individuals and key political insiders. Even if employees of the IFIs are themselves honest, in countries such as Russia powerful alliances among government, business, and organized crime fuel corruption.