Russia has never had a President who did not promise to break the back of the Russian corruption on his entering upon his duties. Yeltsin and Putin two times each, after every inauguration, declared a war to death with this evil. President Medvedev is following this tradition – a decree issued, a special council formed, an inter-agency created, a parliamentary panel instituted.     

Recently the State Duma deputies have celebrated a strange jubilee – the thousandth meeting. Being taken away by that “great” event they even forgot to observe a more significant one – it’s been exactly 20 years that the words about struggle with corruption were voiced in spring 1988 at a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. That time it was promised to “eradicate” corruption. Well, that-time leadership soon changed its mind and five years later, right after the tragic events of 1993, the Russian authority seta a more realistic goal of “counteracting” corruption.    

With time passing and greater effort done the corruption still continues to grow in the country. It appears that fighters against it foresaw such an outcome and had prepared a good excuse in a form of argument convincing themselves and the nation that corruption is spread all over the world and is impossible to be eradicated fully. This point turned out to be very convenient and somewhat universal. On one hand, it justified the presence in the authority of some roguish high officials, and on the other hand it allowed making an illusion (usually before the elections) of lessening the number of corrupted public servants. It would be difficult for example to reproach the previous President for being inactive and allowing the federal and local high officials to embezzle impudently. He would adduce so many names of those suspended and imprisoned during his term that you may feel ashamed for the undeserved reproaching!            

With more frequent exposing of unclean hands the corruption is still growing. Even the new president had to mention that. So what’s behind this amazing paradox? The problem is that this social weed being “eradicated” in one field, it really grows on another one. Just look up in a dictionary of foreign words for “corruption” and you will see that corruption is “venality of public and political figures”. Figures! So when we are informed about arresting of another unclean mayor of the middle size – that’s not about corruption. This Serpent does not live at the foot of the Power Mountain; it goes exactly to the top. And at the moment there is peace and calm in our top, as there are no strangers there.     

Of course, investigative bodies get to VIP’s from time to time too. It usually happens on important occasions like elections coming or necessity to get a profitable tendering or clean the space for someone who is even closer to the ruling people. The practice of the last decade has proved that if an official takes bribes and embezzles the state money without being noticed by investigative bodies, this means he does not bother anyone and no one has an eye on his office. As soon as this situation changes, such an official will get visited by law enforcers and further developments will depend on his behavior – those smart and compliant get off lightly, while others get behind the bars.

What did President Medvedev say about corruption? He said “something must be done about that”. This thought is interesting, but it’s no new. In 1991 President Yeltsin said “we’d better do something about that” at one of meetings dedicated to struggle with corruption. Such formulating allowed a wide field for improvisations. The Kremlin - where almost every official was a patron for some business - began to eliminate those disobedient under disguise of fighting with corruption. Judging from all the appearances, same thing was continued at Putin. Dmitry Medvedev, if he wishes, will be able to see something similar near him very soon. The truth is that when property – whatever way it was gained by the proprietor – is passed as a result of investigation from some hands to other hands of those who are close to the authority, that’s corruption itself.        

“Something must be done!” and the official people got agitated. No, they did not get scared, they just began “to do something”. Various panels and inter-agency commissions appear in abundance. Not only in the federal center but also in the regions an active preparation is going on for “counteracting the corruption systemically”. Most funny look the deputies of the State Duma who immediately created a panel for “legislative support of the counteracting” consisting of 12 persons headed, naturally, by a member of the party in power. This has been fifth or sixth commission within my memory.      

What’s our national feature of struggle with corruption? It is deprived of the main and most effective tools. First, we have no independent press that could expose and publish. Second, we don’t have effective non-government organizations. Most of those remaining after “cleaning” exist on the governmental grants and try to get along with the authority. Everything in Russia is built in the way intended that the top person in the country and his faithful supporters see someone’s abuse and draw attention of the law enforcement agency to that fact and then control that someone else not outbid.        

They say corruption has many faces and it is difficult to struggle with it. I believe that street fraud is more difficult to struggle with, as it really has many kinds of tricks. As for corruption, it’s rather simple and everything may be seen on the surface. What is hidden about corruption? Big officials promote openly their relatives and friends to do big business. There are numerous facts of this being done.

Just take big capital cities. Who is engaged in building business there and who lands the most profitable contracts? And who runs the market of the outdoor advertisement? It’s same people. Some boys who are just fresh graduates work already in the leadership of largest companies and manage big capital.   

Dynastic marriages are another example. Of course, one cannot deny that sometimes a real love may appear between a son of one minister and a daughter of another. But when this becomes a mass occurrence, this looks like amalgamation of business interests by parents, i.e. the usual corruption on the upper level of authority.      

Medvedev has suggested controlling the incomes of the officials. The topic is as old as the commodity-money relations in Russia. In soviet times it had a sense: a soviet minister could not afford buying a dacha, a car, and nice furniture set within one year, as he only had a salary and state bonuses sometimes. And the current ministers have a lot of legal sources of income besides their salaries. Most part of earnings they get in a form of various payments and bonuses at commercial companies where they allegedly represent the interests of the state. The state corporations, created at Putin, is a real Klondike for officials. Now if you ask some official big gun how he managed to buy his land and build a many-storeyed palace on a prestigious plot, he will tell you that he has some income as a member of board at some oil or gas state company, or a state corporation. And then this person will suit you as with your question you have affected his credit and business reputation.         

To see the real corruption, one should not go to the Russian province – it’s only banal stealing that flourishes there. One had better take a look at large scale projects like Olympiad, Russkiy Island, home Las-Vegases, a business school at the near-Moscow region, the tunnel from the continent to Sakhalin, the bridge from Chukchi Peninsula to Alaska – these are real black holes able to absorb the budget billions! These are the living examples of an old rule of the Russian officialdom “the more large-scaled a project is, the less noticeable is large scale embezzlement”.      

I don’t know whether Dmitry Medvedev is going to succeed with all this undertaking. It’s too early to jump to conclusions, as miracles happen sometimes. But if he does not set about changes in the Power, everything will turn out to be just vain efforts and no miracle will occur. It’s impossible to eradicate cannibalism among cannibals.