In Armenia, state officials having essentially grown  private capital  will be  held criminally liable

ArmInfo. In Armenia, state officials having essentially grown private capital will be held criminally liable, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said at the Government meeting on November 3

This decision is aimed at achieving certain  results in the struggle against corruption, the Prime Minister mentioned. "In the cases, when the actual benefits of officials   essentially exceed their nominal incomes, they must be held criminally liable", the Prime Minister stated. Within this context, Karapetyan  addressed the Minister of Justice  to submit the appropriate  Draft Law to the Government in  a two-week  term.  "The heart of the matter is the criminalization of illegal incomes", he accentuated. 

He also mentioned the importance of development of an appropriate draft law  on cash turnover restriction.  The matter concerns the  so called "false borrowing" and "false presents", which are usually being done for cash, which, in essence, drives the process out of control. In most cases the question whether an official has received  a present or not, still remains open. To solve the problem, the Prime Minister   gave an instruction to the Minister of Justice to develop in cooperation with the Central Bank and to present in a two-week term the draft law on cash turnover restriction.

The roster of persons subject to submit income declarations will also be expanded. Currently, many officials submit their declarations, but there are also persons, who are not included in the roster, but are involved in larger sectors like large state procurement flows, or other sectors being under corruption risks.  In this respect, the Minister of Justice is assigned to submit to the Government suggestions on expanding the roster mentioned in a three-week term.

The Prime Minister mentioned also the importance of the implementation of a  new notification system.  The practice shows that, regarding this problem, the implementation of  the international experience in Armenia is far from  being always efficient. That is the reason why the Minister of Justice will be in charge for the development of new notification tools in  a two-month term.

To note, the  issue of the corruption is being actively raised by the public. Particularly, the revenues sources of the former Primer Minister Hovik Abrahamyan still remain enigmatic, while his private capital formed USD 5 mln, or the former Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan, with his capital of at least USD 6 mln, or other "wealthy" officials.