SOFIA (Bulgaria), June 19 (SeeNews) - Croatia is the country in Southeast Europe (SEE) where bribery and corrupt practices in business are most common, a survey by global consultancy Ernst&Young (EY) showed.

About 79% of Croatian managers perceive the problem to be widespread in their country, ranking the country fifth in terms of corrupt practices, EY said in its Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Fraud Survey 2017 conducted between November 2016 and January 2017.

The survey includes 4,100 interviews of senior managers from 41 countries across EMEIA.

Slovenia and Bulgaria followed with 74% and 68% of respondents stating that corrupt practices happen widely in business in those countries. Slovenia and Bulgaria ranked 11th and 14th, respectively.

Nearly half of Bulgarian managers said that they communicate frequently about the importance of maintaining high ethical standards. In Croatia this share is 29% against 28% in Slovenia, 27% in Romania and 21% in Serbia.

Romania leads the countries in the region in perceptions of positive impact on ethical standards by country's regulators, ranking 12th in this respect. Bulgaria was ranked 14th place, followed by Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.

The awareness of whistleblowing hotlines by management was highest in Slovenia and Bulgaria, ranking 13th and 14th, respectively.

Ranking of SEE countries:

Corrupt practices in business promotion of ethical standards positive role of regulators awareness of whistleblowing hotlines Bulgaria 14th 6th 16th 14th Croatia 5th 18th 21st 40th Romania 31st 25th 12th 33rd Serbia 20th 25th 20th 32nd Slovenia 11th 23rd 32nd 13th

Source: EY



