Podgorica, (MINA) – A majority of Montenegro’s citizens believe that corruption is present in the public sector, and they see service provision and gift-giving as the most common forms of this phenomenon, according to a survey carried out by the Center for Monitoring and Research (CEMI).
According to the PR Center, the survey on corruption and the gray economy was conducted in June, on a representative sample of 1,005 citizens of Montenegro.
CEMI’s public policy research department head Nemanja Stankov said that most citizens believe that corruption is present in the public sector, with 7.8 percent of respondents arguing that almost all civil servants are involved in corruption, 31.3 percent that it is the majority, and 34.3 percent say that it involves a smaller number.
“The most frequently perceived forms of corruption are related to the provision of services (53.4 percent), gift-giving (51.5 percent), while giving money was considered as the least likely (34 percent) among the options offered”, Stankov said.
According to him, although the majority of respondents, 52 percent, say that they would not accept a bribe because they consider it unacceptable, there is a decline in the decisive refusal compared to 2023, when it was 77.2 percent.
According to Stankov, citizens perceive that decisions are mostly made in the interests of political parties (37.6 percent) and business elites (18.8 percent), while only 5.1 percent believe that the public interest is taken into account when making decisions.
