News

According to Eduard Hovhannisyan, Chairman of the State Revenue Committee (SRC), no public information can be provided on the import of military goods, volumes, quantity and price. TIAC Project Director Varuzhan Hoktanyan told RFE / RL that since there is an issue of state secret in this case, the role of law enforcement agencies and parliament is imperative. One of the options is the establishment of a closed commission of inquiry in the National Assembly, which will study many problematic issues related to the war, including military procurement.

TIAC Project Director Varuzhan Hoktanyan discusses the lack of transpareny and accountability in Hayastan All Armenian fund. A comprehensive report by the fund should have been submitted in advance. According to Hoktanyan, there is a public demand to understand how the money was spent, whether it was effective.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired an Anticorruption Policy Council meeting, which was held in the Office of Government. The meting discussed a number of agenda items. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan reported back the results of the activities planned for 2019-2020 and carried out in 2020 as part of the Anticorruption Strategy, as well as the results of monitoring and evaluation. TIAC Executive Director Sona Ayvazyan was among the partipants of the meeting.

On February 10, 2021 the RA NSS Border Troops issued a statement, according to which it is necessary to obtain the permission of the National Security Bodies for the work of journalists in uncertain parts of Syunik region. However, according to credible statements by journalists working on the ground, the border guards began to apply these restrictions days before the announcement.
The undersigned NGOs strongly condemn the statement by the NSS Border Troops that obstructs the legal activities of journalists. The NGOs believe that this is not only a criminal act, but also contradicts the minimum standards of a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

Varuzhan Hoktanyan provided an interview to the 1in.am informaiton website discussing the latest announcment issued by numerous NGOs regarding the urgent need of snap parliamnetary elections.

Reaffirming the need for snap parliamentary elections, we, the undersigned representatives of civil society, demand from the "My Step" faction to realize its responsibility to the citizens and the state and to put snap elections to the political agenda of 2021 providing a comprehensive and clear schedule for electoral and related legislation reform, preparing electoral commissions and the judiciary to meet minimum requirements for electoral legislation.

On February 5 TIAC's first board meeting in 2021 took place via Microsoft Teams online conference tool. TIAC Executive Director Sona Ayvazyan presented the programs implemented in 2020 as well as upcoming projects for 2021.

The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia issued a statement today, according to which "Patron" Davit was arrested on charges of supplying old weapons and stealing a large amount of money from the Ministry of Defense.TIAC lawyer Hayk Martirosyan was interviewed by 356news regarding the procurment process and the existing violations. According to Martirsyan "The problems appeared after the war, as the procurement system has been out of order for several months, but so far there is no official statement as to why the system is out of order."

TIAC Project Director Varuzhan Hoktanyan discusses latest CPI 2020 results and Armenia's rank improvement in an interview with Armdaily.am.

Armenia’s 2020 CPI score is 49 and its standard error – 3.50. Compared to last year it increased by 7 points and it is the second largest increase in the world after Maldives, whose CPI score inceased by 14 points compared to 2019 (from 29 to 43). Varuzhan Hoktanyan discusses the details of the CPI 2020 with Azatutyun radio station.