WASHINGTON - RISING corruption in Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania was among the worries faced by US businesses operating overseas in 2008, according to an annual US State Department report released on Wednesday.
The State Department's Overseas Security Advisory Council also mentioned pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia and Mexican drug violence as threats to US businesses.
The report said that US businesses noted a greater insistence by officials in some Eastern European countries for bribes for contracts and permits.
'Problems were particularly evident in Russia, with ongoing concerns about 'corporate raiding,' the takeover of businesses by dubious means, including misuse of government agencies by government and nongovernment actors, and those connected with criminal organisations,' the report said.
Of the 440 pirate attacks recorded off the Somali coast since 1984, more than 120 occurred in 2008, the report said, forcing companies to travel in convoys, hire private security and carry non-lethal defensive weapons.
Drug violence in Mexico also hurt U.S. businesses: 'From shootouts near facilities to a grenade attack at a national holiday event, the chance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time increased markedly,' according to the report.
The council was established in 1985 to promote security cooperation between the State Department and American businesses. -- AP
