Procurement fraud is found in almost any country these days and Russia is no exception. Military prosecutors in the former Soviet country have found that about 20 percent of Russian defense spending is being siphoned off by corrupt purchasing officials. Since the fall of the Soviet Bloc the Russian military has prosecuted many military staff for corruption, but now the focus has turned towards the vendors who supply the military.The Russian military are working with suppliers who increase prices without notice, fail to supply the agreed quantity, and cannot supply items by the contracted delivery date. The military believe that vendors have such bad management and in-built inefficiencies that with the added corruption they simply cannot control their prices. This has led the Russians to start purchasing abroad, such as the recent purchase of a Mistral class amphibious ship from France.
In a recent case of corruption a procurement specialist with the Defense Ministry in central Russia sold off the concrete at a military airstrip for a $33,000 bribe. If found guilty, the procurement specialist will be heavily fined and could receive 12 years in prison.
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