''Fakelaki'' or ''fakellaki'' is the phonetic transliteration of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
word φακελάκι. It means "little envelope" but is also used in Greek popular culture as a
jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular Context (language use), communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The conte ...
term referring to the bribery of public servants and private companies by
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
citizens in order to "expedite" service. According to this practice, sums of money are stuffed in
file
File or filing may refer to:
Mechanical tools and processes
* File (tool), a tool used to ''remove'' fine amounts of material from a workpiece
**Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing
** Nail file, a tool used to gent ...
s and passed across the desk to secure appointments, documents approval and
permits.
Dynamics
The Greek term "fakelaki" is close to the notion of
tip
Tip commonly refers to:
* Tip (gambling)
* Tip (gratuity)
* Tip (law enforcement)
* another term for Advice (opinion), Advice
Tip or TIP may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Tank phone, a device allowing infantry to communicate with the oc ...
in meaning, but it may also refer to specific ''tariffs'' demanded by government officials to bypass procedure.
As of mid-2011, one in four employed Greeks worked for the government.
Fakelaki is also connected to a work culture that perceives the various documents issued by authorities (for example a driving license) as "papers" needed to pay a price "to buy".
Fakelaki is illegal, but its continuing presence in Greek life remains a problem.
Extent
Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
, an independent corruption monitoring
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
, found that 13% of Greeks paid fakelaki, bribery in the form of envelopes with cash donations, in 2009, which was estimated to account for €787 million in yearly corruption payments.
At the same time, it was estimated that roughly €1 billion was paid by companies in bribes to public institutions for avoiding bureaucratic rules or to get other benefits.
When all sorts of corruption in Greece are calculated, the total amount is estimated to be roughly €3.5 billion per year (equal to 1.75% of the Greek GDP). Compared with corruption levels
measured
Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events.
In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared t ...
by
Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
for 160 other countries, Greece ranked at 49th in 2004, was down at 57th in 2008, and slumped to 71st place in 2009.
The government elected in October 2009 had on its agenda to increase the fight against fakelaki and other forms of corruption.
In 2012, the websit
edosafakelaki("I paid a bribe" in Greek) was created for Greek citizens to anonymously report the payment of fakelaki. The site received over 1,000 reports in its first month of operation. The website was created after its founder,
Kristina Tremonti, was forced to pay a fakelaki on behalf of her 90-year-old grandfather, a war veteran with
terminal cancer
Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced ...
, who was left waiting for hours in the emergency room of a public hospital.
Greek bribery system
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
, November 2012
See also
*Tax evasion and corruption in Greece
Corruption is a problem in Greece. Transparency International stated in 2012 that corruption had played a major role in causing the Greek financial crisis (although the crisis itself was triggered by the global financial crisis of 2007-2008, and G ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Patient blogs hospital graft
Corruption in Greece
Economy of Greece
Informal economy