CIVIL SERVICE COUNCIL ENTERS STAGE OF QUALITATIVE CHANGES AND
IMPROVEMENT

YEREVAN, FERUARY 9, NOYAN TAPAN. It is 5 years since the Civil Service
Council (CSC) started functioning in Armenia but the system is still
being formed.

CSC Chairman Manvel Badalian said at the February 7 meeting with
reporters at the Urbat Club that over twenty legal acts were adopted
at the first stage of the system’s formation, while at the second
stage the process of filling vacancies for civil servants started. Now
the system has entered the stage of qualitative changes and improvement.

In M. Badalian’s words, the major obstacle to establishment of the
system is the psychological factor as the idea of civil service is a
new one in our society. He noted that even now many try to undergo
certification in an "easy way". But he assured that "no one has been
and will be certified thanks to his/her relatives". He added that even
the country’s president and prime minister cannot put pressure on
him. "I am protected by an agreement that the president and prime
minister will not interfere," he said.

M. Badalian said that since 2002, the CSC has held 4,200 contests for
civil servant vacancies, and there were no winners in 520
contests. The system has 7,231 positions for civil servants and will
also include 284 poistions of the Rescue Service in the near
future. According to M. Badalian, the employee turnover has declined
in the system. This year the basic salary of civil servants was
increased but this is not enough to reduce the number of those who
leave the state sector to work in the private one.