On 19 March, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association organized a workshop on “Ant-Corruption Compliance” in Yerevan which was dedicated to the internal capacity-building of the participants. The workshop was held in the scope of the EU-funded “Commitment to Constructive Dialogue” project which was co-funded by Center of International Private Enterprises.
At the beginning of the workshop, the participants completed tests, which included a number of questions about corruption schemes, anti-corruption compliance program, information on which is provided during the whole course. The same test was completed at the end of the course as well to compare the knowledge learned in the course.
During a conversation with us project expert Lusine Nalbandyan said that the participants were actively involved in the discussions. “They specifically raised legislative gaps that could foster corruption risks and lead to corruption,” she said.
Experts noted that the participants were interested with the concept of Conflict of Interests and brought examples from their own experience, asking whether this or that phenomenon can be viewed as a conflict of interest, or whether any of their actions may be considered as a manifestation of corruption?
Participants noted that the training was useful for them, because, in case if legislative changes were made in the future, organizations could be guaranteed from the perspective of legal protection. “We need to understand what the policy of state bodies will be if we move toward Euro-integration, if the merger of legal systems continues, and which will involve certain mandatory requirements for organizations, and then this will not simply be important but rather necessary,” he said. According to Hayk Hayrapetyan, the organization can not benefit from corruption, as the first and most important factor for the organization is the business reputation and corruption, is its first enemy.
According to Samvel Gevorgyan, corruption can help the organization, but it will be temporary, and later the losses will be bigger. ”Samvel Gevorgyan also notes that the introduction of anti-corruption programs will be useful both for internal hazards and threats of the organization.
The participants also found out through the game why they need to introduce the anti-corruption compliance program, as well have done corruption risk assessment in their own organizations and presented solutions.
It should be noted that similar workshops have already been held in Gavar and Vanadzor, in the upcoming days workshops will be held in Gyumri and Kapan as well.
