Russia has continued its slide in Transparency International’s index of corruption, ranking among the bottom 50 countries with the highest perception of corruption.
2017 in Russia was marked by a series of anti-corruption rallies led by opposition leader Alexei Navalny amid high-profile fraud cases implicating senior government and culture officials.
Russia ranked 135th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 25th annual Corruption Perceptions Index released on Wednesday.
Transparency International rates countries based on press freedom, honest officials, an independent non-discriminating judiciary and access to state budget information.
Russia received 29 points from the NGO, whose system gives zero points to countries with rampant corruption and 100 points to countries completely free of corruption.
New Zealand and Denmark topped the list with 89 and 88 points each, followed by Finland, Norway and Switzerland in third place.
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