Eastern Europe and Central Asia are among the most corrupt regions in the world. Corruption is particularly high in the former Soviet states. Many politicians admit that corruption has become endemic, and have declared their will to fight it. Too often, however, these declarations are not followed by action. Even when actions are taken, they rarely bring immediate and visible results.

Corruption has penetrated all spheres of life in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It is widespread in interactions between individual citizens or businesses and the public administration, as well as among highlevel officials and politicians. National anti-corruption strategies and programmes in these countries often recognise that corruption has become endemic and systemic; this is the political basis for the anti-corruption work in the region.

An anti-corruption strategy is a policy document which analyses problems, sets objectives, identifies main areas of action (e.g. prevention and repression of corruption and public education) and establishes an implementation mechanism. A strategy can be supported by an action plan which provides specific implementation measures, allocates responsibilities, establishes schedules and provides for a monitoring procedure. Strategies and action plans can be adopted by parliaments, presidents or heads of governments as national policies. Anticorruption strategies are important statements of political will and policy direction. They can provide a useful tool for mobilising efforts by government and other stakeholders, for structuring the policy development process, and for ensuring monitoring of policy implementation.

Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan countries share common history and legal traditions. Since independence, several countries implemented significant reforms of their criminal justice systems; however, substantive reform of criminal law is a slow and long-term process. It is therefore not surprising that many of the Istanbul Action Plan countries share similar shortcomings in the area of criminalisation of corruption. As a result, all countries received a general common recommendation – to introduce international anti-corruption standards for criminalisation of corruption established by the OECD, Council of Europe and UN anti-corruption conventions, supported by a set of country specific recommendations. Further, to help countries understand the requirements of international standards, the OECD developed a Corruption Glossary of International Criminal Standards. This chapter builds on both this Glossary and Istanbul Action Plan country reports.

Preventive measures cover a very broad and diverse range of issues, including strengthening the integrity of the public service, streamlining regulations and administrative simplification to reduce opportunities for corruption, improving financial controls, and ensuring access to information. Most corruption-prevention instruments are not stand-alone or corruptionspecific measures. Rather, they are integral parts of public administration and regulatory reforms, which aim to increase transparency and accountability of public institutions.

The Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) was established by national governments, civil society organisations, international organisations and donor agencies at the regional workshop “Combating Corruption in Transition Economies” convened by the OECD and the USAID in October 1998 in Istanbul, Turkey. The main objective of the ACN is to support exchange of experience, mutual learning and development of best practices in the field of fighting corruption in the region. To reach this objective the ACN organises a range of activities, including General Meetings to discuss achievements, challenges and emerging priorities on the anticorruption agenda in this region, and expert seminars to address selected priority issues in more detail. The ACN also undertakes research studies and prepares analytical papers to provide practical reference materials to practitioners in the region. The Secretariat of the ACN is based at the OECD Anti-Corruption Division. Information about the ACN activities is provided on the ACN website.