The Council of Europe and the European Union, in co-operation with national partners, convened the first Technical Steering Committee (TSC) meeting of the project "Enhancing national capacities for effective prevention and fight against economic crime in Armenia". The meeting was held on 25 October 2023 and hosted project key beneficiary institutions and stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutors Office and law enforcement agencies, Anti-corruption Committee, Financial Monitoring Centre (FIU), Investigative Committee of Armenia and other counterparts.
The purpose of the Steering Committee meeting was to discuss the proposed areas of intervention with the beneficiary institutions, present achieved results and agree further on the work plan of activities.
Keynote speakers in the opening session of the TSC meeting were Mr Mustafa FERATI, Head of Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, Mr Maxime LONGANGUE, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Mr Frank HESS, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Armenia and Ms Lara PETROSYAN, Representative of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia.
Participating authorities emphasized the significance of close cooperation between institutions while building on past initiatives in the field of anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing in Armenia. Participants also highlighted the importance of project support in consolidating institutional frameworks and capacities for effective prevention of corruption, enhancing the AML/CFT compliance of supervisory and reporting entities as well as strengthening the capacity of law enforcement agencies and judiciary in investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating economic crime cases.
The overall objective of the project is to support improvements of the legislative and institutional framework against corruption, money laundering and economic crime in Armenia and ensure the effectiveness of its implementation. Additionally, the project aims at strengthening the coordination mechanisms between anticorruption bodies and making effective use of international cooperation and mutual legal assistance tools as well as develop capacities to prevent and investigate economic crimes. The project also addresses specific needs for the assessment of money laundering and terrorism financing risks, and their mitigation, in emerging risk sectors.
This event is part of the European Union and the Council of Europe joint programme “Partnership for Good Governance”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the project on “Enhancing national capacities for effective prevention and fight against economic crime in Armenia”.
