Russia needs to change national psychology, President Dmitry Medvedev told CNN.
"It is so easy to say that corruption has become part of the national system, that everyone needs it, and that it essentially helps to run the country. This is not so at all. If it were so, we would not have any problems. Corruption is not an effective method of managing the economy although it exists in any country. Unfortunately in some countries, like in Russia, corruption runs high, while in others it is substantially lower.
"Very many countries have gone through such great corruption and organized crime. Let us recall the situation in the 1920s and 1930s in the United States that was very hard. Yet you managed to cope with it. There were shootouts at almost every street corner, yet it's all over. Today, I believe, the situation with corruption in the United States has improved.
"And we too are capable to cope with it. But if one says that it is part of the state system, this is the best justification of corruption. It appears that those who say this are bribers themselves.
"Why should we get rid of corruption? Because corruption is not only a crime, it simply hampers our development; it destroys our system of values.
"Russia obviously has its own perception of its role in the world, and of its achievements. On certain occasions Russia has literally come to the rescue of humankind, and yet only dishonest people can claim that World War II was won by somebody else. Russia made a decisive contribution in the victory over Nazism. This must be apparent to any honest observer.
Therefore, this has indeed become in a certain way an integral part of national psychology. One should not revel in this, and make the conclusion about one's own greatness only on the basis of former achievements - the first manned space flight, or the war victory, although we must always remember this, and we should never underestimate this. But in real terms, we should produce new achievements, and this indeed is the most important thing. Here indeed is where we need to change the psychology," he said.
News
