The Cost of Bribery

I wrote an article a while back about Bribery in Cyprus, which you can read here, and now it’s reared its head again in public life because the new Mayor of Paphos (the previous incumbent was jailed for taking bribes) has, it’s been reported, made allegations against certain parties for trying to bribe a large oil conglomerate called Schlumberger.

No Bribery Investigation

But the police have not launched an investigation because the mayor has refused to make a Statement. It may seem odd to make accusations of bribery and Corruption, then not carry it through by making a statement to the police. Without a statement the police’s hands are tied. So, why is it the mayor will not make a statement? It seems that last time he did so, the accused were tipped off within a few minutes of him making the statement. As I have said before, bribery and corruption is a way of life to some, but at a huge cost.

Cost of Bribery

It was recently estimated by RAND Europe that the annual cost of corruption to the European Union was a staggering £781.64 Billion. That’s a huge amount in any currency.  Paying bribes and arm twisting by the powerful to give ‘friends and family’ access to public services, goods or other contracts is at the core of the EU’s problem. The report was published before the UK’s referendum on leaving the EU and would have turned many more against the EU I’m sure. But despite paying close attention to the for and against arguments I don’t ever remember anything of this scale being revealed to the British  public. Perhaps if it had I may have voted to leave the EU as well. All I can say is that someone somewhere is having a great time at our expense.

Tom Kane (c) 2016
My website

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