Armenian PM promises to break public distrust in government and defeat corruption

 "We will break the public district in the government, we will manage to defeat corruption and monopolies, I believe I will bring the undertaking to a triumphant conclusion," Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan made such a promising statement in the government, Wednesday. 

On the pledge of the word, the prime minister assured the public that every citizen of Armenia will be able to engage in business and export and import any product without any obstacles. "From now on there will be no monopolies or taboo in the economic field in Armenia," the prime minister promised commenting on the recent media reports saying that a big lot of fuel imported by RusArmoil company was banned from entering Armenia at the Bagratashen customs point. 

Abrahamyan said he is supervising the inquiry into incident and will inform the public as soon as all the details are verified. At the same time, the prime minister said the imported and exported goods must meet the standards and requirements of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).  "As far as I know, the fuel imported by RusArmOil Company had certain non-compliance with these standards. Everything will become clear after detailed inquiry into the incident," the prime minister said.  Addressing the monopolies and corruption again, the prime minister said he had a meeting with the president over the issue, and promised that the anti-corruption measures will result in reduction of prices on various goods in the country. 

He explained that the relatively high prices on some goods in the country comparing with the markets of the neighbor countries are a result of transportation costs and lack of communications. "Transportation of goods from anywhere to the Georgian Poti port is cheaper than the transportation of goods from Poti to the border of Armenia," the prime minister said.

Talking to journalists, ministers of economy and energy, Artsvik Minasyan and Levon Yolyan, promised to develop an action plan within three weeks as required by the prime minister to fight corruption and bribery.  Minasyan said his ministry is collecting information from the public sector concerning various negative phenomena in various fields. The minister promised to verify the information, analyze and take the necessary steps.

Levon Yolyan said reforms will be held in the energy field, certain structural optimization, to save resources. 

On May 12, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan spoke of the fight against corruption, obliging the law- enforcement departments engaged in the field to make regular reports on the process. In case of no progress, the human resources policy will be revised. He said the persons holding state positions and their relatives must not be allowed to participate in the state procurement and the program must be implemented on the government funds. He said all these measures are impossible unless there is sustainable and long- term economic growth that will allow creating new jobs and reducing social tension.  The prime minister admitted that the government was not consistent enough in fighting monopolies. On February 12, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan also said that it is time to change a lot of things.  Meanwhile, many partners of Armenia, including the EU and the US, have already stated that they are going to provide no financial assistance for combating corruption until they see specific and tangible results.