PricewaterhouseCoopers' economic crime report on Russia

PricewaterhouseCoopers published its report (entitled Economic crime in a downturn: The 5th Global economic crime survey: Russia) that is worth to be mentioned, given the fact that I spend a lot of time analyzing Russian mentality in this blog. Unsurprisingly, according to the report Russia ranks first among 55 surveyed countries in terms of economic crimes related to business (the major problem is stealing).

The survey of more than 3,000 respondents in 54 countries, including 86 respondents from Russia, is the most comprehensive study of its kind, and was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in conjunction with the INSEAD business school.

The survey found that 71% of Russian respondents had experienced some form of economic crime during the last 12 months. This is a 12 percentage point increase compared to our last Economic Crime Survey in 2007 (59%). 43% of those said that the cost of fraud had increased since this time last year.

The current economic climate has affected individuals’ view on fraud risks, with 51% of respondents reporting that they believe their organisation currently faces a greater risk of economic crime. 86% cited heightened incentive or pressure to commit fraud. (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009)

Bribery and stealing have been the biggest pathologies of Russia for centuries. The reasons for this are numerous, and it takes nothing less than a comprehensive multidimensional inquiry in order to start at least appreciating the overall complexities of the sociocultural problems exhibited in this country.