Moldova returned to the 2008 level of the Corruption Perception Index with a score of 2.9 points, down from 3.3 points in 2009. Thus, it took the 108th position out of 178 counties scored. The data were presented by Transparency International Moldova in a news conference on October 26, Info-Prim Neo reports. Transparency International Moldova head Lilia Carashchiuk said such an evolution shows the Government of Moldova did not manage to meet the population's expectations after a number of events that took place in 2009. Among the causes mentioned are the imperfect legislation that does not allow holding the persons suspected of corruption accountable, the conflicts of interest in investigating abuses, the political instability and poor performance of the group for monitoring the implementation of the national strategy for preventing and combating corruption. In this connection, Transparency International Moldova says it is important to apply the law on the conflict of interests, improve the petitioning system and modify the system for checking the income statements submitted by civil servants. Victor Colir, the head of the Anticorruption Center's Crime Prevention Division, said 318 acts of corruption and 956 crimes have been discovered this year so far, up 45% from 2009. These cases involved 147 persons holding important positions. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. A clean score of 10 means lack of corruption while 1 signifies total corruption. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore share the highest score at 9.3. Bringing up the rear is Somalia at 1.1.