However, experts such as the Deputy Director of the Russian branch of Transparency International's (TI) Ivan Ninenko believe that UNODC’s optimistic evaluation only refers to legislation and not to enforcement of the laws. He cites the case of Daimler, a German car company, as an example.Â
In 2010 the US fined Diamler more than US$90 million after the company was found guilty of giving kickbacks for state contracts in Russia and other countries. The US found Daimler guilty of violating the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). However, Ninenko reminds that no Russian official were ever prosecuted for receiving bribes from Daimler.
Ninenko believes that the same will happen with the Pfizer bribes case. Pfizer plead guilty Aug. 7 to charges of violating the FCPA in 11 countries, brought against them by the US Justice Department. Securities and Exchange Commission. Pfizer was fined US$60 million.
Similar to Russia, Bulgaria and Romania have made progress in bringing laws up to European standards, but in practice, the good laws are not being applied.
