Premier: In half a year Armenia should ensure a high level of financial transparency in the metallurgical industry

ArmInfo. In half a year, Armenia must ensure a high level of financial transparency in the metallurgical industry. The Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan announced this on March 24 during the event timed to the conferring of the status of the candidate of the International Initiative of Transparency in the Extractive Industries (EITI) Armenia.

"This initiative is consonant with the style of the government's work, which implies transparency in the conduct of business. And for us in this matter, a balance is very important in order to find the format that will create a transparent effective field of governance for all, which will attract investments, ensure stable economic growth, and apply international experience and standards", the prime minister said, noting that for to achieve such an ambitious goal, it is necessary to create a basis where all participants of a multi- beneficiary group can agree on the adoption of common solutions.

At the same time, the head of government noted that the minister-head of the staff of the government of Armenia David Harutyunyan coped with all the tasks set as the head of the multi-beneficiary group EITI, due to which Armenia received the status of a candidate.

According to Harutyunyan, the multi-beneficiary group includes 15 members, including representatives of the government, mining enterprises and public organizations."Initially, when creating the group, we encountered certain difficulties, in particular, there was a lack of trust between the participants, a divergence of opinions.  Now, thanks to the efforts that have been made, a new culture of collective work has developed that will lead to significant results within the framework of EITI", Harutyunyan said, stressing that the most difficult work is expected ahead. In this vein, he said that in a year and a half Armenia will submit its first report within the framework of the EITI.

"An environment is extremely important for the investor, in which the resources invested by them will be developed, and joining this initiative will significantly change the investment environment of the state, and, as experience shows, will help attract investment", he said. At the same time, Harutyunyan stressed that the status of EITI candidate will affect the rating of Armenia.

To note, today the Government of Armenia cooperates with the US Agency for International Development, the World Bank (WB) and others in the development of the transparency policy of the mining industry of Armenia. EITI is a coalition of government, companies, civil society, investors and international organizations. It was created in 2002 on the initiative of the then Prime Minister of Great Britain Tony Blair at the conference on sustainable development in Johannesburg. The goal of the Initiative is to increase transparency and improve the quality of governance in extractive industries through periodic publication of reports, compliance with standards and strengthening of institutional capacity. Under the Initiative, mining companies should disclose information on the amounts of their tax and non-tax payments to governments, and governments should publish reports on their income. The transparency of information obtained by EITI standards on the amount of income received allows the parliaments of countries, non-governmental organizations, as well as citizens themselves, to monitor the activities of companies and the Government.  Such civil control not only hampers abuse in this area, but will also contribute to more effective development of countries as a result of improved economic conditions and more active attraction of foreign direct investment. As world experience shows, extractive companies only benefit from greater transparency, thanks to the creation of equal and predictable economic relations.

To recall, at the 35th meeting of the International Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Colombia, Bogota, on March 9, Armenia was nominated. At present, EITI covers 52 countries that submitted 332 fiscal reports, which brought a profit of $ 2.3 trillion to the participants of the initiative.