After a discussion about corruption in the EU I had a chat with someone from another country that was a bit further away, she was from Uzbekistan. I did hear that indeed there is corruption in Uzbekistan but that is usually at a government level. She had no personal stories about corruption, neither taking or giving anything for better consideration. Yet it seemed a bit funny that despite all of experience growing up there she could not remember a single incident even from friends or friends of friends.
People never give bribes, rather they sometimes give gifts or they sometimes do favors. If somebody brings in a small envelope with cash in it – that’s a bribe, but if they take me out to an expensive restaurant that is a favor. Not only that, at the bank they have rules that you cannot accept any gifts for a value of greater than 50 euros, but below that is fine, the CEO said so. When the clients gave them gifts of perfume or candy we never changed our minds about giving them a loan, also we shared the gifts within the department.
After I finished speaking with my friend I wasn’t sure if bribes didn’t exist or if the people with whom she worked simply didn’t stay bought.