ArmInfo. "There are many achievements in Armenia, but at the same time there are also challenges," US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills said in an interview with Voice of America.
"During my diplomatic career, Armenia has always been in the center of my attention, I have always followed the events in this country, and I can tell you about the great way Armenia has been going through these years." There is an active, open market system that has developed and the business environment was formed, which is open, and this allows me to encourage American businessmen to invest in Armenia, "Mills said.
According to him, the living standards in Armenia have changed dramatically since the early 1990s, there are changes for the better in the energy, education and health systems. "Changes in Armenia also took place in such areas as democracy, civil society and human rights, Armenia can be proud of its stability in civil society, as there are favorable conditions for it, and civil society functions in a freer space than in many neighboring countries. But there are also challenges that do not allow Armenia to fully realize its potential, "the US ambassador said.
Asked what exactly is an obstacle to a more dynamic development in Armenia, Richard Mills replied: "Mostly speaking about the problem of lack of accountability, there is an impression that there is no equal opportunity in the society: the judicial system and public services, in other words, this is a problem of lack of transparency or the presence of corruption. "
Nevertheless, the Ambassador noted that there are pluses in Armenia: "For example, the fact that, wherever you go, there is no resistance in the fight against corruption, which means that the society also wants to fight corruption. We often meet the situation when people say: We are so pleased and we are not going to change anything, there are no such approaches in Armenia and it is 80% of the necessary efforts, which is very valuable. I think that we played a certain role in this matter. Working with different organizations, officials, civil society and other and links, we were able to achieve this. "