“Corruption risks in the business sector and integrity issues in Armenia” workshop held in Aghveran on 10 to 11 December

"Corruption risks in the business sector and integrity issues in Armenia" workshop was held in Agveran from 10 to 11 December which was organised by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, the Anti-Corruption Coalition of CSOs and the Armenian Young Lawyers Association. The partners were "Transparency International" Anti-Corruption Center and "Freedom of Information Centre" non-governmental organisation. Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Suren Krmoyan, Ambassador, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan Andrey Sorokin, Deputy Head of Cooperation Section of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia José-Maria Medina Navarro, as well as representatives of state authorities, international organisations, the business sector and non-governmental organisations participated in the workshop. In his opening speech, Suren Krmoyan noted that the process of self-purification of business or the prevention of internal corruption risks in that sector is one of the major issues of our country. According to the Deputy Minister, the State is the first to suffer from the corruption existing in the sector. "The State is willing and is sparing no efforts to reduce the risks in the business sphere, as well and to make the economy more competitive. In the past, we would only talk about the corruption risks in the public service sector, but we would often forget about large enterprises and large companies, as well as the damages that the corruption causes to SMEs", said the Deputy Minister. Andrey Sorokin emphasised that this problem is in the focus of both the OSCE and the Government of the Republic of Armenia. According to him, the OSCE Office supports the civil society and the state authorities in the fight against corruption. The Ambassador also stressed the importance of anti-corruption education. In his speech, José-Maria Medina Navarro noted that corruption is a terrible phenomenon, because it distorts the principle of justice. During the two-day meeting, corruption risks existing in the business sector and integrity issues were discussed and recommendations were submitted to reduce them.