Russia’s Central Bank reportedly plans to weed out leaks and corruption by subjecting its employees to lie detector tests.
Polygraph tests are regularly used to screen government employees and the Interior Ministry made it a requirement for police and security service officers in 2013. Now, the Central Bank also plans to vet employees using the test, the Vedomosti business daily has reported.
“Obviously, someone who refuses to go through a polygraph might face problems in the job,” an unnamed former bank employee was cited as saying.
One of Vedomosti’s two sources familiar with the plans says bankers are concerned. The second source said a number of bankers have already been subjected to the test.
An employee who already took the lie test said they were asked about drug and alcohol use, theft and leaks.
A member of the Interior Ministry where lie detector tests are mandatory told Vedomosti that polygraphs do not inevitably cut down on crime “neither in Russia, nor abroad.”
“But if the goal is to expose a particular person, then this is a useful tool,” the unnamed employee said.
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