Radio Liberty addressed Transparency International's European Neighborhood National Integrity System regional report entitled “The State of Corruption: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine” assessing corruption in five Eastern European countries, presented in Brussels on July 2, 2015. In that regard Radio Liberty interviewed representatives of the Armenian National Assembly’s ruling "Republican" (RPA) and opposition "Armenian National Congress" and "Heritage" Factions asking their opinions about the assessments on Armenia reflected in the report.

The report on Armenia chiefly says: “A particular feature of corruption in Armenia is the presence of so-called “oligarchs” who enjoy the fruits of a shadow economy estimated to account for around 35 per cent of Armenia’s GDP. Patronage networks and a lack of clear separation between private enterprise and public office act as an important barrier to effective anti-corruption efforts. It is not surprising, therefore, that 82 per cent of people in Armenia believe that corruption in the public sector is a problem or a serious problem,

“The president, both former prime ministers and the incumbent prime minister, as well as the majority in the parliament, are members of the same party. Thus the party, the executive and the president can largely be considered one and the same, leading to overreach into the affairs of the state by the president who has a final say on almost all important matters in the country.”

As a result, Armenia’s democratic transformation has been described as “both incomplete and inadequate.”

See the report of Radio Liberty, also see the Press Release by Transparency International.