ARMENIA PLEDGES TO FULFIL RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL CORRUPTION WATCHDOG
Mediamax news agency
29 Mar 06
Yerevan, 29 March: Armenia has received 24 recommendations from the
Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe,
the head of the Armenian delegation to GRECO, Artur Osikyan, has said
at a news conference in Yerevan today.
He noted that these recommendations have been drawn up on the basis
of the report about the corruption situation in Armenia. He said that
the Armenian side pledged to fulfil the recommendations within the
next 18 months.
The Armenian president’s adviser on issues of fighting corruption,
Bagrat Yesayan, expressed hope that the ruling coalition will make
every effort to fulfil the recommendations. He said that 364 criminal
proceedings on corruption were instituted in Armenia in 2005, which
is 12 cases more than in 2004.
Bagrat Yesayan said that the damage from corruption totalled 3.4bn
drams [7.6m dollars] in 2005, 236.4m drams [524,000 dollars] of which
have been returned. He also noted that 97 Armenian officials were
charged with corruption in 2005.