Caharkala/Agency
Caucasus
– The Chechens are extremely upset that they have to bribe officers when they want to get paid ‘official’ compensation for the demolishment of their houses at war.
The people of Caharkala who manage to bribe their way to officers in oner way or another and eventually receive compensation for their houses that the war had destroyed can become successful in either of the two ways: One of the two ways is insecure and it requires the bribery of up to 30,000 rubles well before the official procedure begins. The other way is less insecure and it requires splitting the amount of money that comes in compensation half with the officer. It is usually the officers here that manage their own way of bribery. The money gets split between the officer and the person, who is entitled to earn the compensation, somewhere near the Caharkala branch of ‘s Agricultural Bank.
Usman, a Chechen resident of Caharkala, is one of those who had to split half of his compensation with officers. He said that he had to do this because he would otherwise simply become like his neighbors who did not want to split and still had to wait for their turn to get paid.
A statement from the Chechen prosecutors’ office said that problems persisted even though precautions were officially taken to stop violations of the kind mentioned above. The Chechens who lost their properties at war began to get paid compensation only in 2003. However, corruption has interrupted the official payments several times. It is estimated that there are still approximately 18,000 people who are waiting for their turn to receive compensation. KU/ÖZ/HT
