CORRUPTION IN RUSSIA- A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY

The essence of corruption lies in the bribery of state officials, political and public figures, officials of different levels who make decisions in the interests of the bribe-giver for money or other benefits. Sales and bribery of law enforcement agencies undermine people's belief in the state's ability to protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens, which increases social tension and threatens political stability in the country. Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, speaking at the State Duma, stated that the authorities and administrations were struck by corruption on a huge scale: "It cannot be said that corruption is a characteristic of certain parts of the state machinery. It permeates all levels of power, acquires a systemic character" (Seagull: corruption, 2018). According to the Prosecutor General's Office, in all federal ministries and departments covered by prosecutorial inspections, facts were found out revealing violations of the requirements of the law by employees on the submission to the tax authorities of declarations of income and property. In the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2020, approved by the Presidential Decree of Dec. 31, 2015, N 683, corruption is called one of the main threats to state and public security (Decree of the President, 2015). The authors regret that the fight against corruption has not yet yielded significant results in Russia and points to obvious ways to activate it. (c) 2018 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org.UK