It's a common problem in all kinds of low-perforing governments: You get extremely tough regulation that makes it very difficult to do any economic activity leg

It's a common problem in all kinds of low-perforing governments: You get extremely tough regulation that makes it very difficult to do any economic activity legally, and then you can bypass said regulation with corruption. The high barriers to entrepreneurship, or just constructing a building or buying materials are a feature, as it means more advantages to those that can ignore the regulations. We can see this even in relatively well functioning states: Say, when you make infill development expensive, but provide tax abatements to compensate, but said abatements must be approved by a board of aldermen or something like that. Being able to control who builds more cheaply is valuable, an then you just make sure that you only vote yes to good friends that patronize your cousin's consulting business. The less discretion the bureaucrat has, the harder it is for them to be corrupt. And in the soviet union, they had a lof of discretion.