MOSCOW, April 26 (UPI) -- Outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who had made fighting corruption a key goal, said Thursday the campaign brought only "modest" results.
Medvedev said during a live interview on state-run television corruption that dates back centuries in Russia was a matter of "habit and mentality," RIA Novosti reported.
Medvedev, whose four-year term ends May 7, said it would be "a massive exaggeration to say that nothing is being done. But if we are talking of results, then they are, of course, modest."
He said tighter controls are needed to fight corruption within government institutions.
"Let's be frank. Officials are a corporation. They don't want anyone to interfere in their business," Medvedev said.
Russia has consistently ranked around 150th place in the Transparency International's corruption index, RIA Novosti said.
Under the outgoing president, government officials have been required to submit annual income declarations but the validity of the figures has often been questioned by anti-corruption watchdogs and opposition media.
Since he took office, Medvedev said, he has dismissed half the governor's of Russia's regions because of suspicions of corruption.
"I was forced to fire 50 percent of governors," he said.
Medvedev had conceded early last year his anti-corruption campaign had brought "almost no success."
