MOSCOW - October 17, Balchug Hotel - Russia's FSB (counterpart to the FBI) arrested one of the top government officials of the Russian Tax Ministry (counterpart to the IRS) while he was collecting a cash bribe of $1 million. He was assisted in collecting bribes by a senior manager from the government-owned Zentrobank.
According to the Indem Analytical Fund, Russian government officials took $316 billion dollars in bribes during the last year, which is a normal year for Russia.The average bribe in Russia today is $135,000. The entire Russian Federal budget for the year 2004 was $95 billion, since state revenues are dependent on oil prices, this year's national budget is estimated to be slightly over $100 billion.
The FSB hasn't announced details about the operation yet, but they said that the Tax Ministry official is an Assistant Chief Committee Officer for the Russian Credit Organizations and the Federal Tax Ministry, and he is accused of demanding $1 million from a chairman of the board of directors of the Moscow Bank, promising to dismiss any fiscal claims towards that bank. After the arrest, another three suitcases with $1 million cash were found in the suspect's office.
This case is unprecedented, it was always little fish, small officials, who were getting busted for low-end bribery. For example, in July 2005 the Chief of Eastern Moscow police, Vitaly Ragalev, was arrested for taking $150,000. It's well known that he acquired millions in bribes, with some individual payments in excess of $1 million, but this one was the only time he was caught. The Vice-Governor of Krasnoyarsky Kray, Valery Suladze, was caught receiving $250,000.
Why do they get caught? Not because the recently abolished tax Police or the FSB are seeking justice. The reason is just as dark as the cause, some people stick their noses into someone else's "bribe market", or create "competition" or worse, "unfair competition". That is the reason why all government officials have bullet-proof armored vehicles, bodyguards, and still manage to get themselves shot on a weekly basis. You can say that this Tax Ministry official got lucky; instead of shooting him, they just arrested him. He will probably get 12 years of prison, but given his connections and "retirement savings" he will probably be out of jail in less than a year, back in Russian business! That's the real market economy in Russia - the bribe market.
