Norwegian municipalities 'pressured' by corruption: report
Four out of ten municipalities in Norway say they have experienced being pressured to agree to corrupt and unethical deals, according to a survey.
In the study, which was carried out by municipal interest organisation KS, three out of ten managers of municipally-owned companies said they had also experienced similar forms of pressure, reports NRK.
“These numbers are very high. We know that some municipal sectors are more at risk than others, including building, planning and maintenance,” Norwegian School of Economics professor and corruption researcher Tina Søreide told NRK.
“This is clearly a problem for many municipalities,” Søreide added.
1,244 department leaders in municipalities and 258 managers in municipally-owned companies responded to a survey on which the report is based.
25 percent of managers in those companies said that they are aware of misuse of the company’s resources by somebody within the organisation. 24 percent say they knew about rule breaches and 14 percent knew of gifts being received.
Amongst municipal department leaders, 25 percent said they had been pressured into favouring certain suppliers. 17 percent said they had witnessed pressure to break rules and 14 percent knew of cases of pressure to misuse public funding.
“We know that there are major interests in the private sector who can earn a lot of money from certain outcomes in municipal decision-making processes, but there may also be individuals who desire certain outcomes in construction cases,” Søreide told NRK.
READ ASLO: Norway remains one of world's least corrupt countries
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In the study, which was carried out by municipal interest organisation KS, three out of ten managers of municipally-owned companies said they had also experienced similar forms of pressure, reports NRK.
“These numbers are very high. We know that some municipal sectors are more at risk than others, including building, planning and maintenance,” Norwegian School of Economics professor and corruption researcher Tina Søreide told NRK.
“This is clearly a problem for many municipalities,” Søreide added.
1,244 department leaders in municipalities and 258 managers in municipally-owned companies responded to a survey on which the report is based.
25 percent of managers in those companies said that they are aware of misuse of the company’s resources by somebody within the organisation. 24 percent say they knew about rule breaches and 14 percent knew of gifts being received.
Amongst municipal department leaders, 25 percent said they had been pressured into favouring certain suppliers. 17 percent said they had witnessed pressure to break rules and 14 percent knew of cases of pressure to misuse public funding.
“We know that there are major interests in the private sector who can earn a lot of money from certain outcomes in municipal decision-making processes, but there may also be individuals who desire certain outcomes in construction cases,” Søreide told NRK.
READ ASLO: Norway remains one of world's least corrupt countries
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