RUSSIA: ELECTRONIC ANTI-CORRUPTION PROPOSED USING THE INTERNET
Business leaders aiming to stamp out corruption will drag Russia into the
information age, adopting e-commerce and all the trappings, the head of
Russia´s largest computer and technology services firm said Friday.
Businesses will use the Internet to become more transparent, reaping a
reward from investors for their openness, the head of Information Business
Systems, IBS, said in an interview. IBS group, the $250 million leader of
Russia´s roughly $1.4 billion information technology market, aims to lead
Internet newbies by the hand and plans its own public offering next year,
head Anatoly Karachinsky said. The reasons for Russia to boot up start with
corruption. ``There is a model of stealing money from companies and taking
it offshore, which is a much easier way to make money than to earn it
honestly,´´ Karachinsky said. But bribes are small change. ``People are
discovering that is more profitable to have a high capitalization than to
steal a bit of money today,´´ he added. ``The prize in the West for those
who work honestly is larger capitalization.´´ Thus Russia´s infamous gray
sector of unrecorded deals, bribes and tax avoidance, a major part of the
economy, is becoming a problem for some who built it, as well as the
government and more honest competitors. Computerization and the Internet
leave deal trails, uncovering bribes and foul play, Karachinsky says. ``It
is effectively a way to get out from under the control of independent
company bureaucrats.´´ ``It is crucial for Russia´s existence,´´ he adds.
However, Russians don´t get the net -- literally. There are only a million
or two users in the nation of 150 million, with consumers, relatively
impoverished and inexperienced, bound to lag business in the move online,
Karachinsky said. Businesses will fight for the few legendary Russian
computer experts, he says, eyeing a public offering to attract people more
than fixed assets. That approach addresses what many analysts say is
Russia´s main deficiency: the lack of experienced managers, who understand
how a business works. Yahoo News (Reuters), Sept. 22, 2000
