Estonia's standstill in the CPI has been cemented

Transparency International Estonia has published the 2016 results of the Corruption Perceptions Index. Estonia has, for the second year in a row, achieved 70 points, and is placed on the 22nd place among 176 countries.

Countries with the lowest preceived level of corruption are Denmark and New-Zealand with 90 points. They are closely followed by Finland and Sweden with 89 and 99 points, respectively. The list is concluded by Somalia, South-Sudan and North-Korea. The public sector of those countries are perceived to be most corrupt in the world. "Although, there isn't a country in the world which is completely free from corruption, the countries at the top of the list are characterized by open governance, freedom of the press, civic freedoms and independent judicial instances," stated Anni Jatsa, Executive Director of Transparency International Estonia.

For the first time since 2012, when a new methodology was assigned to calculate the index, Estonias development has stalled. "There are probably several reasons for the standstill, but most importantly, it is the lack of substantial reforms which would improve the transparency in the society. Such reforms are present in the countries ahead of Estonia," explained Jatsa. "Additionally, the corruption cases which have received a significant amount of attention, have not yet reached a verdict and therefore, it has not been possible to assess the effectiveness of the anti-corruption work in Estonia."

The Corruption Perceptions Index includes the assessments by international research groups and analysists for the last 24 month period.

Among the EU countries, Estonia is on the 11th place. The average score for EU countries is 65 points.

Transparency International Estonia is of the opinion, that the Estonian score indicates that the experts responsible for the assessments perceive that there is a standstill in regards to the anti-corruption work in Estonia. "The index reflex the perceived level of corruption, which is based on the assessments by experts and entrepreneurs," clarified Jatsa. "It may be assumed, that foreign investors may take the result into account, since the Transparency International index is widely used to assess the corruption risk of new markets."

Transparency International Estonia is a leading civil society organization in the fight against corruption in Estonia. Transparency International Estonia is accredited national chapter of Transparency International. 

Transparency International Estonia’s main fields of activity are analyzing and highlighting the risks of corruption, awareness raising and strengthening cooperation between public institutions and private persons in the fight against corruption. 

The full version of the press-release (in Estonian) can be found here: http://transparency.ee/uudised/eesti-pai...

For additional informaiton, contact:

Anni Jatsa

Executive Director

Transparency International Estonia

Email: info@transparency.ee

Phone: +372 5330 9965