Swedish bank ‘Swedbank’(91 point) and Lithuanian state-owned enterprise ‘Lietuvos energija’ (81 point) accounts best for their activities in Lithuania. One quarter of all the evaluated enterprises were given 0 points.
The study assessed 41 largest companies functioning in agricultural, oil and chemical industries, banking, commerce and other sectors in Lithuania.
Assessing publicly available information, the best performing companies were in the food (average – 15.75 points out of 100) and chemical (15.6) industries.
Largest amount of information on anti-corruption measures is disclosed by Ltd ‘Swedbank’ (100 points), on organizational structure – by Polish capital market company ‘Orlen Lithuania’ (90 points), on taxes, investments and other finances – by Ltd ‘Lietuvos energija’ (100 points).
Least information companies disclose on certain anti-corruption measures implemented in their undertakings. For example, only 7 enterprises out of 41 publish their codes of ethics or anti-corruption programs, also only 7 companies publish their policy on receiving gifts, confidential or anonymous channels to report. Only Limited company group ‘TEO LT’, Ltd. ‘SEB bank’ and Ltd. ‘Swedbank’ announce that there would not be any negative consequences for whistleblowers.
‘All around the world innovative enterprises pay more and more attention to accountability and how to manage various corruption risks. Being more open and accountable helps the company to reduce those risks and also helps to develop stronger ties with communities. If an employee still gets involved into corruption, higher accountability level can help to diminish legal consequences for the company. I hope that our study and proposed standard will help enterprises to get closer to the best global practices.’ – says Sergejus Muravjovas, the Executive Director of ‘Transparency International’ Lithuanian Chapter.
The average score in the research – 22.3 points out of 100.
The study valuates the transparency of corporate reporting by the 41 largest companies operating in Lithuanian according to their sales revenue in 2013, as published in the annual report of ‘Verslo Žinios’.
The study assesses the disclosure practices of companies with respect to their anti-corruption programmes, company holdings and key financial information. After analyzing the websites, the results were sent to all enterprises with an opportunity to start publishing the missing information and to improve their ranking
The assessment started in November 2014.
The methodology is based on private sector transparency study ‘Transparency in Corporate Reporting: Assessing the World’s Largest Companies’ by ‘Transparency International’ Secretariat (TI-S) and carried out in cooperation with ‘Transparency International’ Secretariat and international audit and financial advisory company ‘Deloitte’.
More information might be found here .