CONFLICT OF INTERESTS IS THE BASIS OF CORRUPTION

Despite the permanent interest of scientists in the issue of corruption, the nature of its basics as an anti-social phenomenon remains understudied. As such principle, the paper considers the conflict of interests of participants in various public relations related to the exercise and abuse of power. The paper aims at showing the nature of the conflict of interests as the basis of such anti-social phenomenon as corruption, identifying subjective and objective causes of corruption. The authors analyze the gaps and weaknesses of current anti-corruption legislation and the practice of its application. The paper gives specific examples of a conflict of interests in various corruptogenic spheres and manifestations, for instance, in the sphere of economic entities’ participation in tenders announced by state and municipal authorities. The authors consider the legal and moral ways of preventing conflicts, the role of ethical norms in preventing conflicts, the legal framework of their prevention and resolution, the ratio of the conflict of interests and the employee’s qualification, the relationship between the material and personal interest, the activities of commissions for preventing a conflict of interests guaranteeing the role of written notification of a conflict of interests, special aspects of the notification procedure, and the consequences of non-compliance with the written notification. The study shows that a conflict of interests and corruption risks are eliminated both through legal means and moral ones, whereby the moral qualities of leaders and the requirements imposed on the heads of state and municipal authorities are of particular importance. Nepotism, increasingly prevalent in power and management structures (kinship and clientelism), is a common form of a conflict of interests, which undermines the moral foundations of public and municipal service.