Jeff via Winds of Change links to a piece from the newspaper we all love to hate on bribery.
It, bribery, is a little overly pervasive and yet is going away, albeit slowly. After 4 years of visa free hassle I am suffering 4 years of visa hassle in 1 year. 2 years ago I could have bribed my way to satisfaction. I can't now. Whilst that is a good thing (at the end of the day, when it gets dark) the failure of the bureaucracy to even begin to think of reforming itself makes bribery a necessary condition to doing things - like driving a car.
As most of the developed world now seems to know we renovated our apartment in 2003. In communalkas the wet areas (bathroom, kitchen etc.,) have to be in a certain place in the apartment so that when the inevitable leak occurs only other 'wet areas' below get wet. We wanted to move our kitchen, and have. The permission cost Rbl50 and the facilitation fee marginally over $2,000. What got me most was that there was a price card. Moving of wet areas cost $2k, pretty much non-negotiable.
At the same time a fellow UK-based VC was himself seeking to undertake some renovation to his London house. Without the possibility of making the bureaucracy move faster and the scarcity of local builders, his work is just finished. We have been in our place for a year.
04 February 2005
Bribery In Russia
Jeff via Winds of Change links to a piece from the newspaper we all love to hate on bribery.
It, bribery, is a little overly pervasive and yet is going away, albeit slowly. After 4 years of visa free hassle I am suffering 4 years of visa hassle in 1 year. 2 years ago I could have bribed my way to satisfaction. I can't now. Whilst that is a good thing (at the end of the day, when it gets dark) the failure of the bureaucracy to even begin to think of reforming itself makes bribery a necessary condition to doing things - like driving a car.
As most of the developed world now seems to know we renovated our apartment in 2003. In communalkas the wet areas (bathroom, kitchen etc.,) have to be in a certain place in the apartment so that when the inevitable leak occurs only other 'wet areas' below get wet. We wanted to move our kitchen, and have. The permission cost Rbl50 and the facilitation fee marginally over $2,000. What got me most was that there was a price card. Moving of wet areas cost $2k, pretty much non-negotiable.
At the same time a fellow UK-based VC was himself seeking to undertake some renovation to his London house. Without the possibility of making the bureaucracy move faster and the scarcity of local builders, his work is just finished. We have been in our place for a year.
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