Armenia fails to get rid of corruption

U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan Richard Mills stated that corruption should be regarded as the main problem of the current Armenian government as it holds back the country’s development in various spheres.

“We bring experts to Armenia to provide training… We are committed to working with those in Armenia who want to find Armenian solutions to the problem of corruption,” the ambassador said.

Corruption is a real challenge for economically weak Armenia to tackle with. The country lacks any big foreign investment due to unfavorable economic conditions, along with the systemic corruption. Here even president's brother Alexander Sargsyan has a nickname 'Sasha 50/50', as he squeezes a half of profits of all businessmen - no matter whether it is a large or small business

Bridget Brink, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. earlier mentioned that corruption risks should be eliminated to move forward USArmenia trade relations.

“One of the things that is a barrier in many countries, in my own country as well, is corruption. We talked about the importance of eliminating corruption at the high level and the law level, look for any way that is possible to strengthen and support steps by the Anticorruption Council as well as other mechanisms that are set in place to fight corruption,” she stressed.

Political corruption remains Armenia’s widespread and growing problem, ranking the country 95 among 168 countries in a list of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2014, with a score of 35 on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Particular feature of corruption in Armenia is the presence of socalled “oligarchs” who enjoy the fruits of a shadow economy estimated to account for around 35 percent of Armenia’s GDP.

Meanwhile, Armenia ranks first in the region for the high level of unemployment. Local media report that the unemployment rate in 2016 would be some 18.3%. For comparison, the level of unemployment in Azerbaijan is 5%, while in Georgia the figure is 12.5% and in Turkey 11%.

The share of poor people represents over 30 percent of the country's overall population. Having a direct link with widespread poverty, unemployment mostly affects the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society.

Another big problem of the country is huge public debt, exceeding $5 billion.

While the government with quite uncertain policy lacks any program or scenario to survive its ill economy, life is becoming more and more complicated for ordinary Armenians.