Minister of Justice receives U.S. Deputy Ambassador and newly appointed Director of the USAID Mission to Armenia

On 23 August, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Arpine Hovhannisyan received U.S. Deputy Ambassador Rafik Mansour and newly appointed Director of the USAID Mission to Armenia Deborah Grieser. Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Kocharyan was also attending the meeting.

Welcoming the guests, the Minister congratulated Deborah Grieser on the occasion of her appointment, highly appreciated the current co-operation with the U.S. Embassy and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and expressed hope that they would continue to work effectively.

Arpine Hovhannisyan touched upon the process of implementation of the programmes that are currently being jointly implemented with the USAID, the activities of the Anti-Corruption Council, particularly presenting the legislative regulations concerning the criminalisation of illicit enrichment and the registration of real owners.

During the meeting, Deputy Ambassador Rafik Mansour noted that the U.S. Embassy highly appreciates the strong partnership with the Ministry of Justice. According to him, several offices and subdivisions, particularly the United States Agency for International Development, the Resident Legal Advisor’s Office and the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs regularly and closely collaborate with the Ministry within the scope of various programmes, including anti-corruption initiatives. The Deputy Ambassador called on the Ministry to continue to play its leading role in the fight against corruption since corruption is the main challenge that stands in the way of the economic development and democratisation of Armenia.

Deborah Grieser highly appreciated the implemented programmes, the noticeable results and expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia for actively engaging the public sector in anti-corruption activities.

At the end of the meeting, an agreement was reached to deepen the co-operation with the Ministry and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).