ArmInfo. On February 26, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan convened a meeting in the government, during which the fight against corruption in Armenia was discussed.
"Since May 2018, the fight against corruption has begun in Armenia. Despite the fact that this fight is unprecedented, I am not satisfied with its results, I'm sure that the citizens of Armenia are also dissatisfied with them. I want to emphasize that I mean not only the initiation of criminal cases of corruption, how much money people's stolen returned to the state budget of the country. But first, I would like to note the results of this fight. According to statistics from the SIS, in 2019 the amount of 4 billion 331 million drams was restored, " Pashinyan said, adding that a similar situation prevails in other law enforcement agencies as well.
According to him, the National Security Service of Armenia restored 1371% more funds in 2019 compared to 2017. IC in 2019 restored 462% more funds than in 2017, and the Police - 10,767% compared to the same period of time. "Such indicators would seem sensational, however, if we transfer these percentages into absolute figures, we must admit that after the revolution of 2018, we, according to the most optimistic indicators, restored only $ 150 million, including also corruption schemes that the State Revenue Committee declassified Armenia. If we remove the SRC indicators from these statistics, the amount will decrease by half, "the prime minister emphasized.
Pashinyan said that if we focus only on the amounts recovered by the law enforcement agencies of Armenia, then the picture is not so inspiring. "Does it really seem to you that the recovered $ 70-80 million corresponds to the damage that corruption has inflicted on Armenia over the past 30 years. My answer is unequivocal - no. I have been accepting this fact all this time, given the complexity of some cases, the overload of investigators, etc. I can't note that part of these explanations is very objective. But all this leads to the fact that some corrupt officials got a chance to leave Armenia, and the other part gives the opportunity to disguise their crimes, "the prime minister noted.
He stressed that the question is whether the law enforcement agencies of Armenia are fully engaged in the fight against corruption. "Unfortunately, I can't answer with 100% certainty. Yes, according to percentage statistics, we have huge success in this area, but as soon as they are translated into numbers, success is not so overwhelming. Therefore, the fight against corruption was not carried out to the full extent. Armenia, as a result of corruption crimes, suffered billions of drams of damage, and I got the authority from the people to return this money to the treasury, "Pashinyan said.
The Prime Minister noted that he hopes that law enforcement agencies will fulfill this hope of the people. "And this fact has been recognized by international organizations. Recently a report was published that elites, with the assistance of Central banks, appropriated a significant part of assistance from international organizations and sent them to offshore accounts. And Armenia took one of the leading positions in this list. But all this happened before our eyes, and the law enforcement bodies of Armenia should solve these crimes while not violating the law in any way, "Pashinyan concluded.