I was speaking with my colleague Zachary about a recent article about corruption in Europe. The statistics said that 12% of people had experienced corruption in the EU, but oddly there was a higher number in Sweden. I thought that this was a but unusual but my colleague suggested that perhaps people had simply reduced some of the numbers because they looked too awful. He said that assuming the correct age, ie excluding children, that perhaps 100% of the people have experienced corruption. Being the inquisitive, nosy, person I asked for an examples.
Rural development
I personally do not know what the attraction to horses is, but I have heard of more than one person whose ideal job was to have a horse farm. It seems that some countries in the EU have a fairly poor track record of using such rural development funds. My colleague was talking with his ex-girlfriend Mary who did have such a dream and she felt it could be possible with such a grant.
Zachary was a bit skeptical, but Mary was saying that she felt she could make a very good presentation. He said that one of the reasons that these funds were not so effectively used was that in addition to the EU rules other “local” rules and conditions were considered by the people who made such decisions.
Mary did not get her grant this doesn’t prove anything like corruption does exist.
Five door bus
One rather superficial example was about public transportation in Bratislava. It seemed that some new buses were needed and so the exact requirements were made available that companies could make an offer.
It is difficult to say if there was any official preference, but it almost seems that the specifications for the public tender were a copy from one of the bus manufacturers spec sheet. One of the requirements was that each bus had five sets of doors, vehicle weight, length and other technical specifications. Some of the other manufacturers cried fowl as there was only a single manufacturer who currently made such a bus.
The tender was canceled as the conditions did not appear to be fair, transparent and non-discriminatory.
http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/49268/3/70m_bus_tender_to_be_scrapped.html
Just a gift
I had read articles about how in Greece since the austerity cuts have been implemented there have been cases where medical care in the hospital may actually require a small “gift” to speed service along.
I was actually very surprised to hear that this has been standard operating procedure for quite some time in other European countries as well, in this case it was Slavakia.
My question “did that change things from all day waits to a one hour wait?
Nah, it is still all day. How much do you pay? I don’t know but you should just ask the nurse they will know what kind and how large the gifts should be.
First impressions
When meeting people for the first time it is always a good idea to be on your best behavior. Just as the saying goes, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. Well in Hungary, just like some other hospitals around the EU apparently when you meet with the doctor for the first time it is quite common to bring a small gift. That is what I heard from a male nurse working in a German hospital. This was the first thing he did when going to the hospital in Hungary he met with the doctor with a gift to help ensure that things went smoothly.
It is good to have friends
I have been told that in the not too distant past if you got pulled over for a speeding ticket, you might have a small chat with the officer who pulls you over. At the end of this discussion, perhaps the two of you could come to an arrangement and might involve a small gift and this little problem would just disappear.
It appears that this particular situation is becoming more and more difficult to change. When the policeman catches a speeder, it is saved in such a way that it cannot be deleted – well on-site. The only people who could do that would probably be back in headquarters and it is a much longer chain of people and the cost to “fix” something small like a speeding ticket is it really is not worth the effort compared to just paying the speeding ticket.
A friend of a friend, or victim in this case, got into a car accident with an intoxicated person and of course the police were involved, pictures were taken, notes were taken probably even a sobriety test was taken. Just to be on the safe side the victim also took a few photos with his phone. The accident went to trial and a very odd coincidence occurred, it seemed that the evidence of the accident was somehow lost.
The victims pictures were not lost and even though they were submitted as evidence it seems that the police did interpret them quite differently. With no other real evidence available the judge ruled against the victim who then had to pay the damages and fines.
What? How is this possible? Well, this took place in a fairly small town, it would of course be possible to appeal the decision, but even that result would probably have the same decision. Only if the case were appealed to the state level would it have a fair chance against “outside” influences.
Yet, if the victim would go through this effort, he would end up in a completely fair venue but there would still be no evidence, the process would have taken years and would have cost even more to get to that point.
Fit for human consumption
I was speaking with a colleague about how things were back home. It is pretty common that everyone has one or more complaints about how things are done at home. I was airing a few of mine but my new consultant managed to remind me how everything is relative. Back home for him he had a story about a food safety department. This department was responsible for testing various food crops such as wheat or corn just to mention a few.
I was told there were certain outcomes that would occur in the course of the testing of the food. When some sort of “gratuity” was not offered to the inspector before the tests were performed the odds of your food passing the tests were pretty negligible. Unsurprisingly when a gratuity was offered the food was always fit for consumption. I started to bring up the “B” word but I didn’t even get a chance when he clarified the situation.
It isn’t a bribe, its a gift.