http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/09/13/germany.corruption/index.html
Finland 'least corrupt country in the world'
September 13, 2000
Web posted at: 5:40 PM EDT (2140 GMT)
BERLIN, Germany -- Finland is perceived as the world's least corrupt country in a new survey that rates Nigeria as the worst offender.
Transparency International lists 90 countries in its annual corruption index, and describes corruption as "a universal cancer" which hampers political stability and foreign investment in developing countries.
Nine of the 12 "cleanest" nations are in Europe - in descending order: Finland (1), Denmark (2), Sweden (4), Iceland (6), Norway (7), Netherlands (9), United Kingdom (10), Luxembourg (11) and Switzerland (12).
Germany, hit by the party financing scandal surrounding former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, slipped in the rankings, from 14th cleanest in 1999 to 17th this year.
"Germany is much more corrupt than previously thought. It's something we should be taking very seriously," TI's Chairman Peter Eigen told a news conference in Berlin.
Spain, ranked 20, and Belgium, at 25, are cited as among the most improved countries.
Former Soviet republics emerge badly, occupying six of the last 16 places.
Russia is ranked 83, slightly better than Azerbaijan, at 87, and Ukraine, 88. Moldova, Armenia and Uzbekistan are put at 75, 76 and 79 respectively.
Yugoslavia is in 89th position, just ahead of Nigeria. But TI Vice Chairman Frank Vogl urged caution in declaring the West African country the most corrupt in the world, noting that some states were not included in the list because of insufficient data.
Pakistan, for example, ranked 87 out of 99 countries last year but is omitted this time around. Honduras, the lowest-ranked Latin American country in 1999, is also missing.
Transparency International -- a non-governmental organisation, based in Berlin -- was founded in 1993 to fight corruption.
Its survey questioned members of the business community, risk analysts and the general public. Countries are given a mark between zero ("highly corrupt") and 10 ("completely clean").
Finland earned a maximum 10.
Each of the 90 countries on the list has been surveyed at least three times between 1998 and 2000. The rolling index is used so that neither recent scandals nor recent anti-corruption drives affect the ratings.
"The results of the index are sometimes unjust because they show up countries which are fighting against corruption at this moment," Eigen said, praising the new Nigerian government. "Valiant efforts are being made by President Olusegun Obasanjo to promote large-scale changes in a country have been robbed by the grand corruption of their past leaders."
Obasanjo was elected president following the death in June 1998 of General Sani Abacha, who ruled for five years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.