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Heavy diagnosis for Armenian corrupted government

9 February 2016 17:33 (UTC+04:00)
Heavy diagnosis for Armenian corrupted government

By Nazrin Gadimova

Political corruption remains Armenia’s widespread and growing problem, ranking the country 95 among 168 countries in a list of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2014, with a score of 35 on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Particular feature of corruption in Armenia is the presence of so-called “oligarchs” who enjoy the fruits of a shadow economy estimated to account for around 35 percent of Armenia’s GDP.

Not so long ago U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills worked as an "engine" in a fight against corruption in Armenia. He even threatened Armenian officials with imposition of sanctions and declared that at least, he will not invite them to the events held in the Embassy.

Corruption is a real challenge for economically weak Armenia to tackle with. Unfortunately, no way out is seen until the country's current government is in power.

Recently, EU Representative to Armenia Peter Svitalsky has organized event named "National and International Efforts in the field of Applied Ethics" to shed a light to very harsh barriers for the development of the post-Soviet nation. The event concluded a very heavy diagnosis for Armenia: it is impossible to eradicate corruption until the high-ranking officials and parliamentarians are engaged in business.

Corruption is the the major reason for deterioration of once warm relations between the government and the Diaspora.

The corrupted Armenian government cannot boast wonderful ties with the large Diaspora, that numbers over eight million people while the population of Armenia is only of 2.4 million people (it is worth noting that it is an official data; actually, this figure is twice less).

It is generally known that for some countries, Diaspora plays a particularly important role as it provides political and economic support to their historical homeland. The Armenian Diaspora does the best for its people, but, apparently, the funds raised and allocated to assist their fellow citizens, remain in the pockets of the corrupt Armenian officials.

Thus, relations between Armenia and Diaspora have lost its force a long time ago – the authorities of Armenia created such a situation by playing with patriotic feelings and wasting funds of Diaspora.

Although 25 years pass since Armenia gained independence, the country’s authorities are still unable to solve this problem pursuing personal and group interests.

Years by years interpretations of corruption have changed, while its mechanisms got improved, but the government could not or did not want to get rid of this social evil.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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