THE FIVE LEVELS OF LINKS OF CORRUPTION AND ORGANIZED CRIME
There are five levels of links of corruption and organized crime: bribery (the lowest level) the bribe (infiltration in public administration), infiltration in the state administration, the level of infiltration of government and infiltration in the political arena.
All these levels are related. The criminal groups use public and officers in the administration in order to achieve their goals. The models are varied through direct influence such as: selection of top state functions, relevant protection from impact, impact on the public administration, obtaining public contracts, personal (direct and fast) profits, appointment of judges, small bribe to official, for example to lift traffic offense etc.
Political corruption and its links to organized crime is the most damaging form of corruption and when is systematic and repetitive is often related to state capture – the effective subversion of state institutions for private gain.
The most common forms of corruption used by OC to influence politicians in Macedonia are: bribe and trade in influence. Experts cite several key reasons behind local administrative and political corruption linked to organized crime: protection from prosecution, influence on bureaucracy, winning public procurement contracts, personal fast profit, etc. The weak regulatory framework on political parties financing, the weak regulations of conflict of interest, the weak regulations of public procurement, etc. have been indicated as key reasons behind the overall corruption in the country.