The International Anti-Corruption Day is being marked today, and corruption is one of the biggest problems in B&H, but also in the countries of the region. Vladimir Goati, the long-term president of Transparency International (TI) in Serbia, spoke about that for "Avaz".

A difficult year

- Since that difficult year when Yugoslavia went to God for the truth and practically disappeared, the countries have at least become aware that there is an immanent danger of corruption, that it is not just a word, but that it is like the sword of Damocles, which constantly hangs overhead. When the order becomes careless, it is in some way punished by corruption. It is a hardly visible danger that lurks in all countries - Goati told us.

He adds that people who engage in corruption become universal and learn from others.

- And maybe nowhere is there a greater willingness to learn something that will jump the order. Corruption is great and growing danger. The problem of these underdeveloped countries of ours is that corruption contributes, as a kind of debt to its underdevelopment. And everyday life is that none of us, including public servants, state dignitaries and officials, recognize that. However, some are taught and use it to achieve their hidden goals. That is not something that can be hit in the dim light - Goati points out.

He believes that people who fight corruption must learn a lot from those countries that have spent decades fighting it, often unsuccessfully.

- But it served to gain experience against corruption. Therefore, a great ability is needed to recognize corruption, and even greater to eliminate or combat it. Actors on the political and economic scene must be observed precisely and in the long run. And only then do political agents manage to somehow fight or at least reduce corruption. It is a very difficult fight with the enemy, which is not always completely visible, but often hooded - says Goati.

Previous schemes

He stressed that, when it comes to corruption, there are no things that people will not find when it comes to their gain.

- People are extremely inventive for that. In corruption, the same purpose and result are repeated, but it is shifted in ways, in order to avoid previous schemes. That corruption is inventive, revealing, that work is constantly evolving - said Goati.

The novelty is this epidemic

Commenting on the "Respirators" affair, which shook B&H public, Goati says that this is an example of innovation.

- The novelty is this epidemic that we are facing. This is proof that, perhaps for the first time in history, large scandals in the field of human health are happening on this scale, that they are ready to, despite the fact that it did not happen before, exploit and manage to find ways to make their profit - said Goati .