One of the biggest challenges to the world economy is corruption. It exists across many sectors — energy projects are no exception. Although it is hard to define corruption precisely, Verslo tribūna today discusses the dark side of power and its historical roots in the energy sector with Mindaugas Jablonskis, Associate Partner at Glimstedt, an expert in energy law and market regulation, and a lecturer in EU energy law at Vilnius University.
The roots of corruption run deep, with precedents reaching back to the Roman Empire. In some places the very same principles still operate today. In parts of the world where a leader’s private interests are not separated from public money, international companies face severe moral dilemmas. Corrupt practices — especially in energy supply — have remained a powerful tool in the hands of non-democratic states.
If a country has no alternatives and needs gas or oil in winter, it may be forced to pay a substantial share of the price as ‘commission’ into an account of a designated company in Cyprus or elsewhere. Dirty schemes or bribery are often disguised with innocent-sounding labels to conceal their true nature. ‘The practice of paying “commission” was known worldwide — even French companies operating in Africa played this game,’ says M. Jablonskis.
‘There’s nothing wrong with commission — that’s perfectly fine, isn’t it?’ he quips. Such settlements were entirely routine until Germany and Spain persuaded France to amend its national legislation and prevent companies from booking bribes paid to African leaders as deductible costs. But transparency has a price — businesses complain they are losing influence in African markets, while Chinese companies, which face no such constraints, easily take over. That is why in 2017 and 2025 the United States adjusted implementation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) so that it aligns with economic and national-security interests, and the extractive industries (oil, gas and mining) are required to disclose less about the content of their overseas operations.
Corrupt decisions inflict great harm not only on the state budget but also on public morality, eroding trust and fostering apathy. If citizens see that no state institution helps to fight violations, they stop supporting the system themselves. It also creates a favourable environment for avoiding reform. The expert warns of the reverse problem too: proactive officials who try to fix entrenched issues are accused of pursuing private interests.
Lithuania also has examples illustrating the difficulties of transnational corruption. For more on this — and on how to address the dilemma when state energy security falls into the corruption trap, how to distinguish legitimate lobbying from influence-peddling, and what transparency-enhancing measures are available — listen to the Verslo tribūna conversation with M. Jablonskis.
