Corruption is endemic here. that is to say its a fact of the normal working of every part of life here. There is a phrase...
"If you want something done properly you must pay a bribe" And that is how the whole society works, and it makes the whole country rot from the stret to the highest levels of government.
Examples...
1. I had to "pay a fine" (a bribe) to the Ukrainian guards on the border of Romania to let me OUT of Ukraine.
2. The local passport office delayed releasing my new visa and passport for 12 days. This put me over the legal limit of ten days to get it registered, automatically putting up for a fine. This is aparently normal for all foreigners here and is the way local justices make extra "pay".
3. To get myself registered with the local housing office the housing officer had to take a bribe to the local council office, the girl there then took part of this bribe and bribed someone else to correctly stamp my documents.
and on and on and on...
It is the one thing that I really don't know how this country can get out of.
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