Armenia’s “war against corruption” in no way improves citizens' life quality
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
Residents of Armenia are beginning to openly resent that against the background of permanent corruption disclosures, their standard of living continues to be low. While the new Armenian government declared the so-called war to corruption, it forgot about other functions designed to improve the lives of its citizens.
Today, a significant part of Armenian state resources is spent on charges and arrests. All these noisy revelations, many of which have not even reached the court, have a one-time effect. Over time, the number of criminal prosecutions for corruption cases will inevitably begin to decrease. So, counting on these funds as a constant source of revenue to the Armenian treasury is pointless.
As for the volume of financial resources already restored after the velvet revolution as a result of corruption disclosures, they are unlikely to please the Armenian public.
In mid-August 2019, it was reported that the Spayka company returned 1 billion drams ($2.1 million) to the Armenian budget. Besides, 800 million drams ($1.7 million) were restored through the criminal case against the former head of the State Revenue Committee and former finance minister Gagik Khachatryan. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that all funds returned to the state treasury make up only some tenths of a percent of the entire state budget.
Dozens of corruption revelations are connected with the fact that various officials fictitiously hired their friends and relatives, and appropriated their salaries.
Despite the fact that the appropriated funds are now returned to the Armenian state budget, the accused are often not prosecuted. Moreover, corrupt officials remain working in their positions. So, there is a high probability that the exposure of corrupt transactions is accompanied by new corruption schemes.
Thus, corruption and bribery continue to reign in the state institutions of Armenia. As a result, the Armenian citizens try to contact less frequently with public and state services in order to avoid informal relations, where they are forced to give a bribe. This, in turn, has a number of negative consequences for the Armenian society.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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