Thankfully, layovers in airports give you time to catch up on stuff, like blogging! Woo-hoo!
This new report popped up in the Barents Observer on the level of corruption in the Russian Military. Last year (2009) approximately 3 billion rubles of defense spending was lost to bribes. While corruption is a given in any military system due to the fairly large commit of national funds to militaries these days, what stands out in this story is the fact that the amount from this past year was double from last year.
So far, eight generals were relieved and sentenced to jail time ranging from three to five years. While it is good to have heads roll at the top for crimes such as this, it is indicative that corruption and bribery is indemic at all levels of russian government, from the justice system, to education. President Medvedev has made anti-corruption a major facet in his term as president insisting that govt officials have complete transparency in their financial dealings and compensation so as to make it apparent when someone is living outside the means one would expect of such an official.
As reforms continue (or don't) especially in the military realm, more such convictions at all levels must be a facet to make it clear that the Russian military is leaving the old ways behind as it strives to make professionalism a hall mark of its reformed military. Reform of the military is more than just new purchases of equipment, it is a major change in the way that the officers and sergeants see their service.
OK, time to go catch a jetplane!
Credit to Barents Observer for the pic. Sphere: Related Content
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