On April 17 and 18, the Government-Civil Society International Expert Conference: “RA Anti-Corruption Strategy under International Experience” was held in Yerevan.
The Conference was organised by jointly the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, in the framework of the “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project supported by the European Union, and in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Centre for International Private Enterprises (CIPE).
H.E. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, in his welcoming speech noted that there are visible results in Armenia in the fight against corruption, for which he congratulates. “For people like me, Armenia is another country today than it was a year ago. This is something that you can be proud of, and not just the government, because in my opinion, all Armenians have dreamt about it. However, as some cases related with the officials show, corruption risks are enduring. So be ready for a long struggle. The European Union is always ready to assist Armenia,” Piotr Świtalski said.
Mr. Tigran Khachikyan, Deputy Justice Minister on behalf of the Minister Artak Zeynalyan, thanked the partner organisations for the organisation of the conference and the participants of the event for their contribute to the elaboration and implementation of anti-corruption policy. “As you have seen, the determination to eradicate corruption is clearly reflected in the Government’s programme and it is important to combine strategic and institutional steps in combating corruption in a coordinated way, In the context of the above-mentioned, I attach great importance to the organisation and implementation of such conferences, as this is an additional platform to listen to the proposals and concerns of civil society, the experience of international experts and the opinions of the state bodies,” Tigran Khachikyan said.
He also touched upon the critical significance of the event and noted that it would consist of discussions on key components in the fight against corruption, in particular the mechanisms for restoring stolen assets, whistleblowing system, preventive activities in the fight against corruption and anti-corruption education.
Mr. Artur Davtyan, the RA Prosecutor General, mentioned in his speech that the results of the criminal-justice fight against corruption in Armenia were unprecedented in the history of the Third Republic of Armenia. “It is difficult to overestimate the significance of the conference, which is conditioned by the fact that in the government-civil society format, with the involvement of international experts, with the involvement of international experts, the priorities of the strategically important anti-corruption strategy of the Republic of Armenia are discussed as a cornerstone for the development of a social, legal and democratic country to make the fight against that evil more effective. The law enforcement system and, in particular, the RA Prosecutor’s Office have a primary role and mission here,” the Prosecutor General said.
He noted that the number of the materials on corruption crimes in the proceedings of the RA competent bodies in 2018 had increase for almost four fold as compared with 2017, and the number of initiated criminal cases for 3.6 times. The number of persons prosecuted for alleged corruption cases is by 60 presents more than compared with 2017. Almost as many more were the number of officials had been prosecuted.
“In 2018, 7 criminal cases have been initiated against money laundering. This is in the case in 2017 no criminal cases have been filed with that criminal offense. And after the criminalization of illicit enrichment in the past year, criminal prosecution has been instigated against five persons on the basis of that crime.
In 2018, the property damages caused to the state by corruption which were revealed only by materials prepared and investigated in the course of criminal proceedings exceeds the results of 2017 for 12 times, and the recovery from the total damages caused exceeds for 15 times,” the Prosecutor General said.
Mr. Dmitry Mariyasin, Resident Representative, UNDP Armenia, welcomed the organisation of such an event where experts with extensive expertise are able to share their experiences.
“Nowadays, it is necessary to move from mediocrity to prospective mentality in Armenia related to what the anti-corruption strategy should be, what kind of institutional structures should be, and what changes in the society should take place so that corruption would decrease. We do not say ‘eradicate’, because there is no country in the world where corruptions has been eradicated,” he said.
Mr. Karen Zadoyan, President of the Armenian Lawyers Association, on behalf of the organisers of the conference, thanked the guests from different countries for participation in the event. “The event is really important as the anti-corruption strategy will be discussed. We have important issues related to institutional anti-corruption, return of the assets, anti-corruption education, corruption prevention and law enforcement activities,” Karen Zadoyan said.
International experts, including: Mr. Dmitry Mariyasin, Resident Representative, UNDP Armenia Ms Aida Arutyunova, Programme Manager of UNDP’s Global Anti-Corruption Initiative, UNDP Singapore Global Centre; Mr. Anga Timilsina, UNDP’s Global Programme Adviser on Anti-Corruption, UNDP Singapore Global Centre; Mr. Shervin Majlessi, Deputy Coordinator, World Bank/UNODC Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR); Mr. Yaroslavs Strelcenoks, Former Head of KNAB, Latvian Anti-Corruption Agency; Mr. David Bloss, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP-Caucasus), Regional Editor; Mr. Alex Petkov, Anti-Corruption Education Expert, UNODC Anti-Corruption Academic Initiative (ACAD) and others attended the Conference.
They delivered reports on anti-corruption strategy, anti-corruption institutional body, corruption prevention and anti-corruption education.
