A representative of the NGO Mladiinfo Montenegro attended the conference of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption, which presented the results of the research “Public attitudes about corruption and familiarity with the work of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption”, held on January 15, 2021 in Podgorica.
The aim of the research was to determine the perception, information, attitudes and experiences of citizens about corruption in Montenegro.
The specific objectives of this study included:
1. Determining awareness of the Agency and its activities, as well as their campaigns,
2. Measuring the perception of the efficiency of the Agency work in the fight against corruption,
3. Determining personal experience with corruption, measuring differences in perception and attitudes on the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents (gender, age, education, financial status, employment status, region),
4. Measuring the perception of the prevalence of corruption by areas,
5. Measuring the perception of the success of activities related to the control of the financing of political parties,
6. Determining the source of information on the activities of the Agency and the ways of reporting corruption.
The research included 1006 respondents living in 18 Montenegrin municipalities.
President of the Council of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption Momčilo Radulović said that they are satisfied with the survey, stating that the number of respondents who heard about the Agency is growing – the percentage is 86.7% of respondents and is higher by almost 6 percent compared to last year and 15.6% compared to 2016 when the agency began operations.
“All parameters related to the work of the Agency have increased and the citizens and the public have recognized the very good work of this institution”, he said.
An increasing number of citizens who have heard about the agency know exactly what the Agency is doing, that is 55.2% of them. Only 20% have the wrong opinion that it is the job of the Agency to prosecute corruption cases.
Citizens, 27% of them, believe that corruption is most prevalent in the state administration, then in the health system 14.9%, and for the first time it was in second place according to that criterion.
Radulović said that they are very proud of the fact that trust in the work of the Agency has increased by 10.7% compared to the previous year and amounts to 72.3%.
As many as 75.4% of citizens believe that the Agency has contributed to the overall fight against corruption in Montenegro.
When asked how much the Agency contributed to strengthening the transparency and use of public resources and financing of political entities during election campaigns, as many as 73.4% of citizens answered in the affirmative.
When asked to whom they would first report corruption, 64.1% of citizens said that they would contact the Agency.
“In the previous year, we have a growth trend of almost 15 percent. That is an impressive result”, he said.
