Russian Defense Companies Take Lowest Positions in 'Honesty Rating'

05.10.2012 Largest Russian arms manufacturers happened to be at the bottom of the Transparency International rating which categorizes defense-oriented companies depending on their transparency. In fact, military manufacturers were assessed in terms of their readiness to bribe functionaries with the view to win contracts.

Authors of the rating set participants on the basis of their declared anti-corruption activities. To classify transparency, letters A, B, C, D, E, and F were used.

Almost half of the companies presented in the rating took lowest grades E and F. Among them are Russian companies GAZ, RTI Systems, Almaz-Antei Air Defense Concern, Russian Helicopters, Sukhoi, Irkut, Tactical Missile Corporation, Instrument Engineering Design Bureau (Tula), and United Engine-Building Corporation. Ukrainian companies Antonov and Kharkov State Aircraft Factory have low transparency rating as well.

The most transparent company is American corporation Fluor, it got A. The B group is represented by Japanese Fujitsu, European Accenture, BAE Systems, Meggitt, Serco Group, Thales, and American Hewlett-Packard, Northrop Grumman, United Technologies. As was noted in the report, defense production is not core business for half of those companies. For instance, defense orders bring only 9 percent of Fluor's incomes; this parameter of Fujitsu is only one percent.

Group C is represented by such known companies as Boeing, EADS, Finmeccanica, Lockheed Martin, Rolls-Royce, and Saab. The D category includes AAR, Embraer, Hindustan Aeronautics, Rafael, and NEC.

Transparency International analyzed statistics of 129 companies manufacturing about 90 percent of global arms and military equipment. The anti-corruption organization evaluated their total turnover as $10 trillions.