A policy workshop on intermediate results of the State Owned Companies – Preventing Corruption and State Capture project took place in Prague from 11 to 13 September 20017, jointly organised by the Romanian Center for European Policies in partnership with Expert Forum, Freedom House Romania, Amapola Progetti, Risk Monitor and Candole Partners.
“The principle is simple: If a company has more money, there are more chances of capture and political influence. Where political influence is high, where the relatives of politicians and their affiliates are hired, those companies produce money. For example, in Bulgaria, no family relative got hired to the irrigation company that is in bankruptcy. Why? “(Daniela Bobeva, former Minister, Bulgaria)
“The capture of companies is directly responsible and must also be linked to inefficient and weak governance (eg in the field of infrastructure). You have european money for infrastructure development, whether road or rail, but you can not use it because of corruption or poor management. “(David Robinett, Corporate Governance Expert, Washington DC)
“We need to analyze what are the incentives for the phenomenon of state capture and clientelism. Often, there is a favorable environment for capturing these companies, and their role is derailed. For example, in the Czech Republic, the money of a state-owned company helped to create and fund a political party “(Maria Spirova, expert state capture and clientelism, Netherlands.
The research is carried out in the framework of the project “State-Owned Companies – Preventing Corruption and State Capture” financed under the Economic and Financial Crime, Corruption, Environmental Crime Programme of DG Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission and co-financed by Open Society Foundation.