It is proof of the collapse of the social treaty, of social solidarity and of the fraying of the social fabric. No Western country accepts CEE diplomas without further accreditation, studies and examinations. Israel was forced to re-educate them prior to granting them a licence to practice locally. Concessions, licences, permits, assets privatised, tenders awarded are all subject to reallocation fees. A factory sold to avaricious and criminally minded managers is likely to collapse and leave its workers unemployed.
Corruption pervades daily life even in the prim and often hectoring countries of the West.
We are all corrupt to varying degrees. But it is wrong and wasteful really, counterproductive to fight corruption in CEE on a wide front and indiscriminately. It is the kind of corruption whose evil outcomes outweigh its benefits that should be fought. The author is General Manager of Capital Markets Institute Ltd, a consultancy firm with operations in Macedonia and Russia. He is an Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.