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Covering Up Potholes Doesn't Fix Corruption

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  • Covering Up Potholes Doesn't Fix Corruption

    The Moscow Times
    Thursday, Mar. 11, 2004. Page 13

    Covering Up Potholes Doesn't Fix Corruption

    By Kim Iskyan

    Corrupt activities in the developing world -- government ministers
    controlling local industry cash cows, traffic cops shaking down random
    motorists for a buck or two, tax inspectors squeezing small businesses until
    they bleed -- tend to be homegrown.

    But abuse of power in Armenia is often exacerbated by the misguided and
    naive efforts of foreign do-gooders, including wealthy outsiders with a few
    teaspoons of Armenian blood.

    Take the Lincy Foundation. Back in June 2000, Armenian President Robert
    Kocharyan lobbied Las Vegas billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who is of Armenian
    descent, for handouts.

    Tell us what you want, Kerkorian's Lincy Foundation said, as the candy
    cupboard door swung open.

    Three years and $165 million later downtown Yerevan has spanking new
    sidewalks, bigger highways and fewer potholes. There's better tourism
    infrastructure, and people hit by a 1988 earthquake now have a permanent
    roof over their heads.

    One of the greatest beneficiaries was Kocharyan, who was happy to take
    credit for the improvements during his re-election campaign last year.

    Never mind that the money spent amounted to more than twice the total annual
    health care budget for 2003. Fresh blacktop is nice, but so are doctors and
    medicines.

    And many of the new roads were riddled with potholes in under a year, thanks
    to shoddy workmanship by contractors handpicked by the government.

    While the Lincy Foundation certainly helped the economy in the short term,
    it missed a golden opportunity to try to bring about sustainable, long-term
    growth by investing in the country's economy.

    Often, foreign investors in Armenia -- usually diaspora Armenians -- let
    their feelings overrule business sense. They buy into ideas, sometimes sold
    to them by selfish and arrogant government bureaucrats, that wouldn't
    warrant a moment's consideration back home.

    Other times, diaspora investors cut sweetheart deals with the government,
    thereby destructively promulgating the culture of corruption. Instead of
    being a force for change, they sometimes wind up propagating the same old
    corrupt system.

    Yes, it could be worse. Transparency International ranked Armenia 78th out
    of 133 countries surveyed in its Corruption Perceptions Index. This compares
    with, say, Russia (86th), or Azerbaijan and Georgia (tied at 124th).

    But comparing yourself with some of the ugliest kids on the block doesn't
    make you pretty. And it could be so much better, if only the do-gooders
    looked in the mirror once in a while.


    Kim Iskyan, a freelance journalist and consultant based in Yerevan, Armenia,
    contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.

    ---
    http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/03/11/006.html
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