A wide range of experts and government officials gathered at the Institute of Modern Development (INSOR) for a roundtable on "Fighting Corruption: Building a Systematic Approach".

The discussion was a continuation of the preparation of a national plan for fighting corruption, which was presented to President Dmitry Medvedev on June 25.

In his opening remarks, roundtable moderator Boris Makareko, Director of the Department for Social and Public Policy at INSOR, noted: "Today it is particularly important to formulate a systematic approach to fighting corruption - to clearly define the task and develop a balanced approach to resolving this problem."

Speaking at the roundtable, Georgy Saratov, President of the INDEM Center, said it is critical to first diagnose and define the problem. He pointed out a number of impediments to the fight against corruption, "first and foremost the lack of transparency of anti-corruption activities, the lack of a systematic approach in the fight against corruption, and unproductive attempts by various anonymous groups to do something meaningful."

Grigory Tomchin, President of the Russian Association of Privatized and Private Business, warned that the fight against corruption might lead to an even higher level of corruption. He suggested a number of anti-corruption measures, in particular, implementation of technical regulations and self-regulation, and strengthening the state's role as regulator where necessary while ending its role where it is unnecessary. Other participants of the roundtable agreed that the state's role in regulating business is excessive.

Elena Panfilova, Director of the Center for Anti-corruption Research and Initiatives at Transparency International Russia, noted the need to raise public trust in and support of the state's anti-corruption efforts, citing widespread skepticism in society. She also mentioned the need to make the most of other countries' experience in fighting corruption.

Despite the high level of interest in the topic and numerous suggestions, some remain highly skeptical of Russia's readiness to deal with corruption. For example, Mark Levin, head of the Microeconomic Faculty at the Higher School of Economics, said, "It is still too early to fight corruption in Russia; society is in general not yet prepared to solve this problem."

Summing up the roundtable, Boris Makarenko noted a number of areas where there is consensus on the fight against corruption. Namely, that tackling the corruption problem requires both political will and public demand; that there is no single "diagnosis" of corruption but rather numerous diagnoses of both a small and large scale; and that tasks should divided into short, mid, and long-term tasks, with emphasis placed not only on the complex strategic task of fighting corruption but also on the simple task of eliminating corruption in particular instances.

The preparation of recommendations on the fight against corruption will be one of INSOR's top priorities in the immediate future.