Foreign companies pledge to avoid bribery in Russia

Moscow - Dozens of foreign companies, including some of Germany's best-known multinationals, on Wednesday pledged not to offer bribes in Russia in a Kremlin-sponsored bid to improve the country's business image.

Independent corruption watchdog Transparency International last year ranked Russia 146 for corruption out of 180 countries.

"Our companies are adopting concrete mechanisms against everyday corruption, said the Director of Russian-German Chamber of Commerce, Michael Harms.

Representatives of the Russian branches of Siemens, Daimler and Deutsche Bank were among those present to sign the initiative.

By doing so the companies committed themselves to a strict anti- corruption policy within their own ranks and when doing business in Russia, where bribery is commonplace.

Arkady Dvorkovich, a top economic adviser to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also attended the signing.

Medvedev has made his anti-corruption drive a top priority. There have been a number of scandals involving foreign companies in the country in recent years.

The offices of the Russian branch of US computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard were searched last week in an investigation into whether the company's employees had paid millions of dollars in bribes to the Russian prosecutor generals' office.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/319915,foreign-companies-pledge-to-avoid-bribery-in-russia.html.