61% of Bulgarian Companies Call Corruption 'Problem When Doing Business'

Bulgaria is among the ten EU member states where at least half of all companies say corruption is a problem for them when doing business, a Eurobarometer survey shows. 

In Romania and Greece, the share is 74%, followed by Bulgaria (61%) and Italy (60%).

Titled Businesses' Attitudes Towards Corruption in the EU, the report contains data from the survey carried out between September and October 2015 across European Union member states.

67% of Bulgarian companies say patronage and nepotism are a problem for the country, with 31% answering "Not a problem" and two percent unable to say. Within the EU, only neighboring Romania (70%) and Greece (68%) have a bigger percentage of companies complaining of corruption.

This is 7% up from results of a previous survey dated February - March 2013.

Asked how widespread the problem of corruption is in their country, 91% of respondents in Bulgaria have answered "Widespread", 4% "Rare", one percent have said "Non-existent" and 4% have said "Don't know".

Ninety percent agree with the statement there are close links between businesses and politics in the country (4% down from 2013). Eighty-six percent agree "favouritism and corruption hamper business competition" (3% down).

89% of respondents agree "Bribery and
the use of connections is often the easiest way to obtain certain public
services" (4% up), whereas 65% agree that "the only way to succeed is to have political connections" (1% down).

Sixty percent of Bulgarian companies believe corruption prevented their company from winning a public tendr or a public procurement contract, 2% up from 2013 levels. Those answering "No", 35% of the total, constitute a 8% bigger share compared to 2013.

Italy (98%), Greece (96%), Romania (95%), Spain and Cyprus (93%) are the countries where the biggest percentage of companies believe corruption is widespread.

In Italy and Bulgaria, companies are more likely to say corruption is a problem than they were in 2013 (an increase of 11% and 10%, respectively).

Only 18% of companies have pointed to "favouring friends and family members in business" as one of the most widespread practices in Bulgaria, compared to an average 43% for EU28.

"Funding political parties in exchange for public contracts or influence over policy making" has been named by 38%, more than the 30% EU average.

61% of Bulgarian companies say corruption is a problem for them when doing business.

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