Interviewee US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Armenia Richard Mills.
-Corruption is one of the main issues about which you voiced immediately after starting your diplomatic mission in Armenia. For instance, in my opinion, it is impossible to achieve a serious success in the fight against corruption without having a truly democratic government, without the change of power through elections and very strong reserves of the legitimacy of the government. How would you describe corruption and fight against it? Has there been any progress over these years?
-You are right, one of the main priorities that I proclaimed after arriving in Armenia was to support people in Armenia who are fighting against corruption. The embassy has different mechanisms for the implementation of these works. These include funding civil society groups that work on this issue. We also teach journalists to investigate corrupt transactions, read bank accounts, and track cash flows. The other aspect of our activity was the work with the government and those officials who were involved in the fight against corruption and wanted to make changes in the system. That is why we decided to support the Anti-Corruption Council, which was formed within the office of the former prime minister, and we wanted to see if that Council would be effective. We had initially stated that if the work of the Council did not produce results, we would stop our support. And I have to say that one of the first issues we discussed with Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan after assuming the post of Prime Minister, referred to the activities of the Anti-Corruption Council, and both of us agreed that the Council was not as effective as we wanted, so we redirected funds for Anti-Corruption Council to serve other goals.
But I think that first of all it is necessary to clarify, define what we mean when we address the issue of corruption. I think we have made significant progress in one field, and you can correct me if I am wrong. It is the reduction of corruption in the so-called everyday state-services. These are the services such as when people apply for driving license, retirement, and school-related issues. I think that thanks to the efforts of the civil society, the government, with the support of the United States and other international community, it has become possible to record positive progress.
The type of corruption that is most disturbing and which keeps American investors awa is corruption, as a result of which markets are being closed, and unfair competition is being formed. That is when influential people with economic and political connections are using their opportunities and levers for their own interests which results in an unfair environment, and no equal conditions for the game. I think that this manifestation of corruption and the abuse of power continue to be the biggest challenge in Armenia and the biggest obstacle to opening the country for trade and investment.