Tag: corrupt

The leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party, tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan was stripped of his parliamentary immunity to face criminal charges and be held in detention. A Yerevan court, however, ruled that he will not be held in pre-trial detention.

Gagik Tsarukyan is a remnant of the previous system. The era of oligarchs is over, and Tsarukyan must make his peace with that. Armenia is no longer a country for corrupt old men, writes Dr. Nerses Kopalyan.

Armenia’s parliament recently passed the “Law on the Confiscation of Illegally-Acquired Assets.” It is portrayed as a major anti-corruption measure and according to authorities is aimed at former and current officials.

A comprehensive list of the most high-profile investigations launched against former officials and their associates following the 2018 Velvet Revolution.

The Armenian government has initiated a broad set of cases against the oligarchs and Robber Barons of the former regime composed of the upper echelon of the previous-pyramid hierarchy. Nerses Kopalyan looks at a number of high-profile cases.

Serious issues in the country’s mining sector is something this new government inherited from the former regime. Artur Grigoryan argues, however, that enough steps have not been taken to eradicate or even curb corruption in the sector.

As an instrument of transitional justice, vetting is designed to “cleanse” state institutions that are tainted by systemic corruption, nepotism, and incompetence. Vetting of personnel is the first step toward the broader goal of institutional reform, writes Dr. Nerses Kopalyan.

Professor Don Fuller examines how post-Soviet states have had difficulty in breaking normative behavior originating in Soviet times and how corruption is manifested in anti-democratic decision-making practices. He writes that Armenia’s new revolutionary government will be watched for evidence of competent innovation and justice.

Formulating the compatibility of transitional justice with Armenia's laws and constitutional statutes shouldn't be problematic, writes Nerses Kopalyan. However, the Pashinyan government, must go out of its way to make certain that the formation of any element of the instruments of transitional justice are fundamentally impartial, profoundly non-politicized, and unequivocally objective.

Is corruption inherent to the post-Soviet Armenian political culture, and if so, does this make the political culture of Armenia incompatible with democratic values? Dr. Nerses Kopalyan examines how conflictual matters that should be resolved in the public sphere are almost always resolved within the cultural rules of the private sphere.

What is the art of anti-corruption? A year-long campaign sought to raise awareness on the effects of corruption on Armenian society. The “Art of (anti) Corruption” organized by Impact Hub Yerevan and supported by the EU Delegation to Armenia is a poster art exhibition and EVN Report is featuring a selection of the works on display.

"Why Nations Fail" and why is Armenia's economy failing - Armen Grigoryan's case-study of Acemoglu's and Robinson's economic theories and their implications in Armenia's economy and politics.