STA, 9 December 2019 - Compared to the EU average, Slovenian companies are more convinced that corruption is a widespread phenomenon in the country, according to a Eurobarometer survey, with the share of such companies in Slovenia standing at 90%, compared to 63% in the entire EU.
The survey, sponsored by the European Commission and published on International Anti-Corruption Day, shows that the perception of corruption has increased in Slovenia in the last two years.
While two years ago 77% of the surveyed companies said corruption was a widespread phenomenon in the country, this share increased to 90% this year.
The share of those who think that corruption is a rare occurrence has meanwhile dropped from 9% to 6%, and the share of those who could not tell has dropped from 14% to 4%.
However, the discrepancy between the perception and experience of corruption remains very high.
As many as 96% of the Slovenian companies polled answered in the negative to the question whether someone from the state bodies had requested or expected a present, favour or additional money for key documents and permits.
This is 11 percentage points less than in 2017, the survey notes, adding that only 4% of the companies said they knew at least one such case, which is 4 percentage points less than two years ago.
Slovenian companies are meanwhile more convinced that corruption was what prevented them for winning a public contract in the last three years. The share of such companies stands at 50% or 6 percentage points more than in 2017.
On the other hand, 41% of the surveyed companies believe that this was not the case, down five percentage points.
Slovenian companies are sceptical about the prospects of corruption prevention, with the share of companies in Slovenia which believe that the police are not likely to catch corrupt persons or companies or take measures against them.
As many as 70% of the surveyed companies in Slovenia believe that perpetrators of corrupt acts, even if arrested, would not be indicted, and 75% think that courts would not impose high fines or prison sentences on them.
But corruption is apparently not among the biggest problem for companies in Slovenia and the EU, as it is close to the bottom of the list along cronyism and access to financial sources.
Topping the list are tax rates, the fast-changing legislation and complicated administrative procedures.
The survey was carried out between 30 September and 9 October among 180 Slovenian companies.
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