Chisinau, November 1 (Infotag). Combating corruption must begin from the above, Transparency International (TI) expert Constantin Lazar considers.

Speaking at the international conference “The Juridical Culture and the Prevention of Corruption”, organized by the Moldova Union of Journalists”, Moldova State University and the Transparency International (TI), he remarked that it is much more important to take a clear position in respect of corruption in the political system and the Government circles than to be concentrated on combating small corruption, for example, bribery in medical institutions and educational establishments.

“The damage, inflicted by high level corruption is much more considerable than that, inflicted by small corruption. That is why, we must combat it, in the first place, we must change the mentality of our leaders”, Lazar said.

Chairman of the Moldova Union of Journalists Gheorghe Avornic underscored the Moldovan population’s low juridical culture on the whole.

“In Moldova many problems are solved by means of bribery, but we try to make citizens realize that corruption is the most serious barrier in the society’s development way”, he said.

According to the TI poll in 2006, the police is affected by corruption most of all. It is followed by the judicial system, health protection, political parties, the Parliament and educational system.