Fourth Round of Monitoring Report of Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan presented

Today, the Fourth Round of Monitoring Report of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan was presented in Yerevan. The presentation was preceded by a press conference with the participation of Deputy Minister of Justice Suren Krmoyan and Representative of the Secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Rusudan Mikhelidze.

Deputy Minister/National Co-ordinator of the Anti-Corruption Network of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Suren Krmoyan presented the successes of Armenia in the sector of the fight against corruption and the problems existing in the sector. Talking about a number of major anti-corruption reforms, Suren Krmoyan set aside the development of the legislation on public service and civil service, the reforms in the legislation on the sectors of ethics and conflicts of interest, the criminalisation of illicit enrichment, the strengthening of the capacities of the Commission on Ethics of High-Ranking Officials and the improvement of the toolkit, that is, prescribing administrative and criminal liability for failure to submit a declaration, submission of the declaration by violation of the time limit prescribed or submission of a false declaration, the practical result of which are the nearly 500 already instituted administrative proceedings.

The Deputy Minister also touched upon the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption" and the improvement of the institutions of property and income declaration, as a result of which the scope of persons submitting declarations has essentially been expanded, ranging from 750 to almost 3400.

Suren Krmoyan also mentioned the wide public confidence in and support for the reforms being implemented in the anti-corruption sector — conditioned by the new political realities in Armenia — as a major factor in the fight against corruption. The Deputy Minister also informed that the 21 recommendations submitted to Armenia had been addressed, 3 of which — fully, 8 — considerably and 10 — partially.

Rusudan Mikhelidze highly appreciated the efforts made by Armenia in the sector of the fight against corruption and assessed them as excellent. According to Mikhelidze, a group of 10 experts has been working on the submitted report since May of this year and the result is satisfying, as during the past four years, Armenia has essentially improved its indicator of influence in the fight against corruption. The representative of the OECD Secretariat mentioned, as a key factor, the adoption of the new anti-corruption legislation, which, according to him, is in compliance with the international standards, as well as mentioned the involvement of civil society in the process of development and adoption of legal acts. Summing up, Rusudan Mikhelidze expressed confidence that the new proposal-recommendations included in the report being presented would also serve as a guide for Armenia to set a new bar in the sector of the fight against corruption during the upcoming three years.

This was followed by the presentation of the report attended by nearly 30 representatives of the state and public sectors.