Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

(NGO) which was established in 1998 and a member organization of

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil s ...

. It aims to increase transparency and create a corruption-free world by working together with the private sector, civil society and public sector. Corruption is rife and a major issue in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. TIS focuses on policies involving local and regional governments to uphold democracy and a free market economy.

Case study: Privatisation of Slovak Telecom (1999–2000)

Background of corruption in Slovakia

Under the previous heavily corrupted governance (1994–1998),

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

was not a transparent process, leading to many cases of

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

. Many private firms were sold at a loss, leading some to

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

and causing negative fiscal impact on the Slovak economy. With the change to a new governance in October 1998, TIS was invited to monitor and increase the transparency level of the privatization process of Slovak Telecom and ultimately, reduce corruption.

Goals of the project

The main goals of the monitoring of the privatization process of Slovak Telecom in which Transparency International Slovakia participated as an independent observer were: # to observe the process in order to increase transparency and minimize the possibility of corruption # to raise awareness of the general public about corruption and transparency issues in Slovakia, especially in privatization and

public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the purchase of goods, works (construction) or services by the state, such as by a government agency or a state-owned enterprise. In 2019, public procurement accounted for approximately 12% of GDP ...

tenders.

Actions taken by TIS

TIS sought to improve transparency of the process by first forming a tri-party which, together with TIS, helped monitor the entire process, thereby increasing transparency. Observing the process also allowed TIS to brainstorm ideas that would improve transparency. For instance, a major problem identified was with regard to the documentation language. Documents are written only in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, a language of which command is imprecise, hence leaving the document open to interpretation. In addition, TIS published news and information on the privatisation to

educate Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education also fol ...

and increase public awareness on transparency issues.

Results of the changes

Through the media, TIS managed to increase public interest and awareness on issues concerning transparency and anti-corruption. The extent of public participation and

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

influence was exemplified during the process, through public outcry against corruption that led to the resignation of two corrupt officials, the first of its kind in the country. Realizing the need for a greater transparency level in the privatization process, TIS established and recommended numerous policies for administrative changes. These included: * “Privatization Information Minimum” * “Public Procurement Information Minimum” * Amendment of the Law on Public Procurement * Working Group on Public Procurement

Post-evaluation statistics

According to two reports, the progress of corruption in Slovakia remains unclear.

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

statistics show that in the period after the policy implementation, corruption in Slovakia worsened from 0.31 in 2000 to 0.13 in 2002, thereafter the corruption index showed a general upward trend of an increase of the index by 0.3 points by 2008. On the other hand, Transparency International statistics show that after 2000, corruption has been steadily decreasing in the country from 3.5 in 2000 to 4.98 in 2008 signaling a decrease by 1.48 index points.

References

{{Authority control Anti-corruption organizations Transparency (behavior)