Albania is on the path towards opening EU accession negotiations. After a lengthy debate, the EU Council reached unity on the progress of Albania on the European integration agenda, and set out the path towards opening the accession negotiations in June 2019, subject to endorsement by European Commission. The Council underlined the need for Albania to further consolidate progress made on judicial reform in particular through the vetting, and to deliver further tangible results in the fight against corruption at all levels and in the fight against organised crime, maintaining and deepening the current reform momentum. This includes: Justice Minister reports on anticorruption measures. Acting as National Anti-corruption Coordinator, the Minister of Justice reported to the Ambassadors of the EU countries on measures undertaken by the Albanian Government to prevent and fight corruption through the effective implementation of the Justice Reform, Public Administration Reform, and the Cross-Sectorial Anti-Corruption Strategy. EU Ambassadors have expressed their appreciation of the Minister’s initiative for a periodic reporting of anti-corruption measures and outcomes. They also praised the government's commitment to fighting corruption and the measures taken in this regard, and expressed their readiness to cooperate and provide support to the Albanian Government in its efforts to efficiently fight corruption.

Investigation of corruption cases in Armenia can reach the very top, stated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyand to journalists in the parliament. He promised that there will not be any political obstacles to these investigations.

Armenia will continue combatting corruption, stated the Armenian Prime Minister at the meeting with delegates of the CIS Interstate Council on Combating Corruption. He noted the importance of developing cooperation between the Prosecutor's Offices of Armenia and CIS countries, including in the field of mutual legal assistance. The Prime Minister expressed hope that the cooperation between the Prosecutor's Offices of the CIS countries will be expanded, which will enhance the effectiveness of the fight against corruption and will positively affect the strengthening of the rule of law, and better protection of human rights.

We won’t ask for money to fight corruption, we will combat it ourselves, stated the Armenian Minister of Education in the parliament. The Minister is convinced that only political will is needed to fight corruption, not the donations from foreign donors. He added that the previous government received substantial financial assistance, however this didn’t lead to any real results.

Azerbaijan continues successful international cooperation to combat corruption. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Anti-Corruption Directorate of Azerbaijan and the General Inspection Organization of Iran aimed at enhancing cooperation in the field of complaint management and anti-corruption activities during the visit of the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan to Iran on 17-18 June 2018.

“ASAN service” model presented at the 7th session of the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly. Azerbaijani delegation informed the participants of the plenary about the “ASAN service” model, underlining that its main objective is to increase transparency in public services, prevent corruption, and enhance the effectiveness of institutional reforms in this sector.

Azerbaijani delegation attends regional workshop on illicit enrichment. On 18-19 June 2018, the Azerbaijani delegation attended a regional workshop on “Possible Avenues to Address Illicit Enrichment to Fight Corruption” organised in Chisinau, Moldova within the EU/CoE Partnership for Good Governance Regional Project on “Good governance against economic crime”. The workshop brought together representatives of policy making bodies in criminal justice sector, prosecutorial and investigative bodies from Eastern Partnership countries.

Corruption scheme in the healthcare system uncovered. The State Intelligence Service of Belarus detained or applied other preventive measures in respect of 33 public officials and other persons (in total over 50 persons) linked to the recently uncovered large-scale corruption scheme in the healthcare system. According to the Intelligence Service, officials received bribes ranging from 10,000 to 450,000 USD for creating favourable conditions to award contracts to “right supplier” in procurement of medical equipment and medicines. As a result of this corruption scheme, the price of certain medicines was inflated by 10-60% and in some cases even up to 100%. The Head of Intelligence Service informed that the investigation of this complex case will continue and will most probably take several months. The President Lukashenko earlier made a statement that nobody would escape responsibility for being involved in corruption, in particular high-level officials.

OSCE report on judicial shortcomings in processing corruption cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) presented a first assessment of issues negatively impacting the quality and effectiveness of the judicial response to corruption in BiH to representatives of the judiciary and law enforcement agencies on 21 June 2018. The report, titled Trial Monitoring of Corruption Cases in BiH: A First Assessment, is based on the observation of 67 completed corruption cases between January 2010 and September 2017. The main shortcomings identified in the report relate to the insufficient harmonization of criminal legislation, inadequate capacity of prosecutors in drafting indictments and gathering evidence as well inconsistencies in the interpretation of the law by courts.

According to Amnesty International, criminal justice system reform is necessary in Georgia. “Reform of the country’s criminal justice system, including the creation of an independent mechanism to investigate alleged human rights violations by police, should be the top priority of Georgia’s new government,” according to the Amnesty International, London-based international human rights organisation.

CSOs Call for New Rules in Chief Prosecutor’s Appointment. A group of around 40 civil society organizations united in the Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary call for reforming the “deficient rules” of chief prosecutor’s selection and urge the authorities to suspend the ongoing selection process led by Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani before fundamentally reforming the appointment procedures.

New PM of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze names ministries to be merged. The number of ministries in the Government of Georgia will be reduced from fourteen to eleven, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze announced at a news briefing on June 26, following his three-day-long consultations with ruling party leadership.

Jordanian tax officials charged with graft. On 20 June 2018, the Attorney General at the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) decided to seize the movable and immovable assets of Bashar Saber, former Director-General of the Income and Sales Tax Department (ISTD) and impose a travel ban, charging him with abuse of public office. The Commission referred the case to the Public Prosecutor several months ago, as the suspected former Director-General took measures, in agreement with the other suspects, that illegally reduced the estimated taxes of the company-in-question from JD 6 million to JD 1.5 million.

Jordan’s new Prime Minister prioritizes combatting corruption. The newly appointed Prime Minister Omar Razzaz stressed during his meeting with the Chairperson of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Committee (JIACC) Mohammad Allaf that his government needs to establish a comprehensive national “renaissance project” focused on implementing economic and political reforms. Razzaz further indicated that a code of conduct for the ministers would be drafted and disclosed to the public for feedback as soon as it was completed. The appointment of Mr Razzaz came a day after King Abdullah II accepted the resignation of former Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki in a bid to defuse anger amid mass protests over price increases and an income tax reform bill.

The Central Bank of Jordan issues new anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulations for licensed banks. The new regulations approved by the National Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Committee on 23 June, will replace those issued in 2010. The new rules came in response to the recommendations of the international Financial Action Task Force of 2012 and developments in local and international markets and included amendments such as working on a risk-evaluation basis, and asking banks to conduct a comprehensive annual evaluation for possibilities of money laundering and terrorism funding.

Kosovo* adopts advanced draft law on whistleblowers. Approved by the Government on 12 June 2018 the draft law has yet to be passed by the parliament. Supported by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, the draft law introduces significant protection for whistleblowers and detailed procedure on whistleblowing in the public and private sectors.

Few Kosovo* Corruption Verdicts Lead to Jail Terms. According to BIRN Kosovo* and Internews Kosova’s annual court monitoring report for 2017, only few corruption-related court cases in Kosovo* end with a prison sentence. Namely, only 32 of 254 court verdicts on corruption in 2017 resulted in prison sentences.

Asset declarations of 950 senior officials to be checked by the Anti-Corruption Agency. On 29 June 2018, the Anti-Corruption Agency drew the lot in accordance with the Law on Declaration, Origin and Control of Assets for senior public officials, whereby 20% or 950 senior officials will be subject to full control by the Agency. This process is done every year and in the presence of media.

Second Ex-PM Jailed As Kyrgyz Power-Plant Corruption Case Grows. Kyrgyz authorities have jailed a second former prime minister in a corruption case that is making waves in the Central Asian country. The State Committee for National security (UKMK) said that Jantoro Satybaldiev was placed in a detention center on 18 June. Satybaldiev, who held office under then-President Almazbek Atambaev from 2012-14, is the second former prime minister to be arrested in a graft case that stems from modernization work at a power plant in Bishkek. Sapar Isakov was jailed on June 5, along with former Bishkek mayor Kubanychbek Kulmatov. Former Energy Minister Osmonbek Artykbaev has also been arrested in the same case.

First integrity inspectors take office. On 11 June 2018, the National Integrity Authority (NIA) swore in four integrity inspectors, hired in the first round of recruitment. NIA’s President has declared that this step consolidates the institution’s capacities and functioning. Meanwhile a new round of recruitment has been initiated.

Former Member of the Parliament to face trial for influence peddling. The Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office announced that the investigations on Iurie Rosca, former MP and Deputy Prime Minister, on charges of influence peddling have been finalised. The case was open based on a complaint from the manager of a private company, who was asked to pay over 100,000 EUR to influence a court decision. The file has been sent to court, while confiscation of cash and goods has been performed.

Strategy to recover the billion stolen through the bank fraud launched. The National Anti-Corruption Centre and the Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office, in collaboration with the Asset Recovery Office, have launched a strategy to recover the stolen billion in three years. The document explains how the fraud was initiated, as well as how various high-level politicians were involved. Further, the strategy details the steps to be taken by Moldovan institutions to recover the money from different foreign jurisdictions.

Strengthening legislation on anti-money laundering and prevention of terrorism financing. On 27 June, the Parliament of Montenegro passed the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, and on June 22 the draft Law on International Restrictive Measures was adopted by the Government and forwarded to the Parliament. Both laws were developed with assistance of Council of Europe experts, within the EU/CoE Action against Economic Crime in Montenegro (AEC-MNE).

Special State Prosecutor filed a new indictment against primary suspects in “Telekom” affair. It is related to the privatization of the company back in 2005 and alleged corruption around it. Two managers are accused to have acquired 2.3 million euros of illegal benefit during privatization process.

Member of the Council of Agency for Prevention of Corruption dismissed. Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) has decided that member of APC’s Council coming from civil society, Vanja Calovic, has violated the Law on Prevention of Corruption by signing a contract with EU on monitoring of campaign for parliamentary elections in 2016 as a head of an NGO, while simultaneously controlling the work of the Agency in the same area. Calovic rejected the accusations, stating that the Council does not deal with individual cases – only the Director can. Civil society and opposition consider Calovic’ dismissal an attempt to weaken the control over APC’s work. 43 NGOs requested a suspension of proceedings in the Parliament related to the dismissal, contesting the fact that the request for dismissal for a member of the Council should be initiated only when 3 members request it. An additional accusation on the procedure came from Transparency International which stated that Calovic was not provided with the right to reply to allegations.

Morocco hosts the United Nations Public Service Forum. On 21-23 June 2018, the United Nations Public Service Forum took place in Marrakesh with the theme of role of transparency, integrity and anticorruption in the achievement of sustainable development goals. On this occasion, Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi, United Cities and Local Government of Africa’s Secretary General, underlined the fact that most African countries had criminalized corruption. He welcomed the decision of the African Union to make 2018 the year of anticorruption on the continent.

Romanian Criminal Code Changes Intensify Rule-of-Law Fears. Romania’s Social Democrat-led parliament adopted changes to the country’s criminal code, ignoring warnings from experts and international institutions that they threaten the rule of law and prosecutors’ independence. According to the changes adopted on 18 June, courts of appeal cannot accept a case or change a verdict unless prosecutors offer new evidence. Incriminating recordings that do not relate strictly to the investigated case cannot be admitted as evidence and a criminal investigation should not take longer than a year. The accused will be also allowed to be present during the victims’ testimonies, the changes envisage. Critics say this would practically put an end to most graft and organised crime investigations in the country.

Is Russia making any progress in criminalising bribery and ensuring transparency of party funding? –GRECO’s assessment. The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has published a new assessment of the implementation by Russia of its recommendations on incriminations and transparency of party funding According to GRECO, twelve recommendations (as compared to eleven during the previous assessment) out of 21 have been implemented satisfactorily by Russia. At the same time, the CoE anti-corruption experts are disappointed with the decision to split the previous anti-bribery single draft legal act in two, “which may cast doubts over the robustness of the legal framework”. GRECO urged the authorities to swiftly address the outstanding recommendations, preferably through a single draft legal act. Furthermore, according to GRECO’s assessment, the proposed amendments to the bribery-related provisions of the Russian Penal Code do not fully conform to the Council of Europe standards.

Head of the Russian Presidential Administration chaired a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Council. During the meeting, Prosecutor General, Yuri Chaika, and Federal Business Ombudsman for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, Boris Titov, informed the participants about the measures taken to prevent abuse of power by law enforcement and inspections authorities vis-à-vis entrepreneurs and to protect them from pressure. The main outcome of the discussion was the Council’s order to the Prosecutor General’s Office to continue monitoring the situation to ensure protection of entrepreneurs’ rights in Russia, and to prepare proposals for organising activities aimed at amending current legislation.

Russian President’s decree places the Presidential Administration’s Anti-corruption office under direct authority of the Head of the Presidential Administration. According to Vladimir Putin’s decree, Head of the Presidential Administration Anton Vayno will be in charge of overall supervision of the office’s activities. Previously, the aid to the President Evgeny Shkolov was in charge of the office. Anti-corruption office is considered one of the key offices in the Presidential Administration as its mandate includes monitoring implementation of anti-corruption laws as well as relevant decrees and requests of the President, submission of relevant proposals to the President, and carrying out checks of civil servants’ financial declarations.

Whistleblowers needed. President Aleksandar Vucic said that Serbia needs more whistleblowers, and expressed hope that Serbia would change its attitude towards them, because that is of utmost importance for the country's progress. The Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers applies from 5 June 2015, and before its entry into force, about 1,200 judges and more than 300 judicial assistants were included in the compulsory training programme.

Criminal group arrested for money laundering. The police arrested 15 persons on suspicion of having committed several criminal offenses, including the abuse of power, tax evasion and money laundering, thus obtaining assets worth at least 30.5 million dinars, the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced.

Serbia adopts the Law on Ultimate Beneficial Owners Central Registry. n 25 May, the Serbian Parliament adopted the Law on Ultimate Beneficial Owners Central Registry and it entered into force on 8 June 2018.

Indictment over 27 April events in Parliament. The Skopje based criminal court has accepted the indictment of the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the events in the Macedonian Parliament on 27 April 2017. The court announced that a date for the main hearing will be scheduled in due time and notified to the public. This is the first case in the country where current members of parliament and officials are prosecuted for terrorist threats to the constitutional order and the security. Among the total of 30 people covered by the indictment are the former Director of the Public Security Bureau, Mitko Chavkov, five deputies from the VMRO-DPMNE coalition, famous opera singer Igor Durlovski, and actor Vlado Jovanovski. The indictment does not include eventual organizers of the incident.

INLUCC draws attention to the shortcomings of the draft illicit enrichment bill. On 14 June 2018, the Tunisian Anti-corruption Agency (INLUCC) brought to the attention of the Assembly of People’s Representatives the weaknesses of the draft bill on asset disclosure, fight against illicit enrichment and conflicts of interest. In this regard, INLUCC called for the reduction of the number of officials who are required to declare their assets.

Tunisia hosts international conference on the future of public transactions in digital era. Opening the conference, the Head of Government Youssef Chahed reaffirmed his government’s commitment to fight corruption. He recalled that he had put in place an “integral plan” aimed at combatting corruption and improving legislation based on best international practices. He noted that improvements were made in a number of sectors, including in public procurement.

Assembly of People’s Representatives publishes the list of candidates for INLUCC. On 22 June 2018, the Electoral Committee of the Assembly published the preliminary list of the 30 candidates for the Anti-corruption Authority (INLUCC). According to the legislation, the institution is composed of nine members.

Poroshenko signs law on establishing High Anti-Corruption Court. On 21 June, Verkhovna Rada adopted presidential draft law No. 8497 on the establishment of the High Anti-Corruption Court. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the Law on June 27. The signing took place during the graduation ceremony at the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University. "I've decided that it is here and today that we have to sign the law on the launch of the Anti-Corruption Court," Poroshenko said.

Activists demand removing Zhebrivsky as NABU auditor. On 19 June, President Poroshenko signed a decree appointing Zhebrivsky as a member to the commission for external control to conduct an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). Several non-governmental organisations have filed an administrative action with the Administrative Court of Appeals of the Supreme Court demanding to recognise the presidential decree unlawful, claiming “Zhebrivsky has no experience in law enforcement or working with international judicial bodies or in international organizations, as required by law”.