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On 26 July, 2019, the discussion of the Draft Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022 with participation civil society organisations was held in Vanadzor. A number of representatives from state bodies, CSOs and Businesses participated in the discussion.
The discussion was organised by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association (ALA), CSOs Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia within the framework of EU funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project and CIPE funded "Promotion of Corruption and Reforms. Armenia "project.
“We have organised a series of discussions on the Draft Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022 in different marzes and the implementation plan for its implementation. The process of formulating anti-corruption strategies in our country started in 2003 and the strategy for 2019-2022 will be the 4th and one of its key differences is that it goes through public discussion,” Mr. Marat Atovmyan, ALA Board Member said.
Ms Srbuhi Galyan, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia thanked for organising such discussions, stressing their importance. "The peculiarity of this anti-corruption strategy is that it contains an analysis of past information. An assessment of past anti-corruption strategies has been made and the draft has identified the positive and negative aspects of those strategies.” the Deputy Minister said, presenting the general directions of the strategy.
Mr. Artyom Mesropyan, ALA representative, outlined the process of developing the document, what is to be expected with the adoption of this strategy, and what solutions the state proposes to eliminate institutional corruption from the country. "If we talk about the past, it should be emphasized that some actions had been taken during the rather than no actions had been undertaken before the revolution, but however there was no political will. Today, the government has that political will and in order to fight corruption effectively, revolutionary approaches and new solutions are needed, so that the mistakes made by the former powers are not repeated," Artyom Mesropyan said.
In his speech, he attached special importance for the provision of criminal liability of legal entities and definition of mechanisms for their implementation from the aspect of prevention of the corruption risks in the private sector, mainly Anti Corruption Compliance Programs. He also touched upon the solutions offered by the Strategy for the identification of corruption risks in the private sector and increasing transparency: in particular the importance of revealing the beneficial owners of the state registered legal entities and introduction of a common and accessible platform with their information, promoting free economic competition, economic activity as well as ensuring freedom of economic activity.
Notably, similar discussions have already been organised in Gyumri and Gavar.
