Corruption costs Russia the equivalent of 2.9% of its GDP every year, a presidential aide has said, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday.
Kickbacks in state procurement programs alone account for 1 trillion rubles ($32.5 billion), Konstantin Chuichenko, head of the presidential financial oversight administration, said.
"Up to 5 trillion rubles in budget funds is spent on procurements for federal and municipal needs. The optimization effect can exceed 1 trillion rubles," Chuichenko said.
"In plain Russian, the volume of theft can be reduced by 1 trillion rubles," President Dmitry Medvedev commented.
About 10 million state contracts are signed every year, "a significant part of which have in-built kickbacks," he said.
Chuichenko proposed establishing a Federal Contract System to deal with the problem. It will monitor all contracts and assess their effectiveness.
RIA Novosti
