By Christopher Crowson
According to a new Transparency International report, Armenia’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score has not changed since 2023, remaining at 47 points.
Since 2021, Armenia’s score on the CPI has entered a stagnation phase.
“The first two years after the 2018 Revolution, there was very serious progress even on the scale of the whole world, the biggest progress ever seen from 2012, but then we saw stagnation,” Varuzhan Hoktanyan, Project Director at Transparency International Armenia, tells CivilNet.
He adds that Armenia needs to take on a “systemic approach in the fight against corruption” and that the country requires “real political will, not simply words, words, words,” doubting the current government’s resolve to address the issue.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index scores and ranks countries based on how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be. The scale, which starts at 0 (meaning absolutely corrupt) and ends at 100 (meaning absolutely clean), demonstrates scores that reflect the evaluations made by experts and surveys from businesspeople.
Out of the 180 countries included on the scale, Armenia shared 63-64th place with Croatia, which also scored 47 points. Despite the lack of progress in the rankings, Armenia still scored higher than the world average which, like in 2023, equalled 43 points.
Moreover, Armenia’s score surpassed every other country in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, except Georgia. Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan were behind with 34, 23, 22 and points respectively, and fellow member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) were also low scoring compared to Armenia.
Nevertheless, Armenia still lags behind in comparison with many European nations who tend to hold some of the strongest scores in the world.
When it comes to improving Armenia’s score for next year’s report, Hoktanyan told CivilNet that, “almost every area needs attention; prosecution of corruption, prevention of corruption, everything is needed.”
He added that Armenia has an ingrained issue with failing to execute its anti-corruption laws, “We don’t have this culture of implementing laws which have been written down on paper. We don’t respect them.”
In a Q&A session during a conference, Hoktanyan questioned Mushegh Babayan, Deputy Chair of Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee, about how his agency intends to resolve the issue of insufficient human and financial resources, which is currently hindering progress in anti-corruption efforts.
Babayan replied that the lack of human resources is a real issue which the Committee faces, with its staff having to deal with enormous workloads.
Unsatisfied with the Deputy Chair’s response, Hoktanyan told CivilNet that this lack of resources simply means the government is reluctant to take the combat against corruption to the next level.
“If there aren’t enough resources, it also means there is not enough political will,” he says
Several high-ranking Armenian officials, including anti-corruption chief Sasun Khachatryan, handed in their resignations earlier in November in a major government shake-up, as requested by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Speaking to his cabinet, Pashinyan noted that when his administration took office in 2018, law enforcement and judicial officials claimed their inefficiencies were due to insufficient resources. However, after receiving all requested funding, these sectors still fall short of expectations, Pashinyan stressed.
“Four years ago, I said that those accused of corruption were spending their days partying in restaurants, and I’m repeating the same today. The public expects them to be held accountable, yet those who once looked down on others still continue to do so!” the prime minister said.
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