Poles, Bulgarians and Russians consider their governments corrupt

Nearly 92% of Poles consider their government to be corrupt. As reported by the newspaper Zhechpospolita, that figure was obtained by the international institute GfK. A similar view of their governments was expressed by Ukrainians (92%) and Bulgarians (96%). Russia was in fifth place, with nearly 90% of respondents qualifying their government as corrupt.

Poles ranked second after Bulgarians in the rating, and first among all the nations of the enlarged European Union. At the same time, only 19% of Poles admitted ever having taken a bribe. The most bribe-taking Polish citizens were doctors, government officials and court officials.

The polling as carried out by the international institute GfK at the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. Participants included citizens of the 15 nations of Central and Eastern Europe. Of EU nations, only Austria was polled. One thousand people were questioned in each country, and in Russia 2,000 were polled.