YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 19, ARMENPRESS. During April-May of this year the citizens of Armenia went out to the streets to fulfill their dream to have a country where the rule of law, democracy, human and business rights will be materialized, acting justice minister Artak Zeynalyan said in his remarks during a conference titled ‘Reduction of Corruption Risks in the Private Sector’ in Yerevan, reports Armenpress.

“To have a country where everyone can freely carry out an economic activity, maintain market economy rules in the conditions of a really free economic competition. The recent velvet revolution in Armenia, its subsequent events should be described as unprecedented and historic. I think business is one of the main winners on which the results of the revolution should have a direct impact”, he said.

In this regard, the acting minister emphasized the need to turn this victorious revolution into institutional reforms which will give a new impetus after the upcoming early parliamentary elections. He stated that it is necessary for the public, especially, the business community to be constantly involved in the reconstruction of changes system. Zeynalayan noted that the tactical tools used during the revolution must also be used while conducting reforms.

“Although talks are firstly about the corruption and its manifestations in the public administration system, but there are also corruption risks in the private business sector. Business will play two roles in the anti-corruption fight. Firstly, as I said, business is one of the main beneficiaries of the anti-corruption fight, and businessmen are interested to see the results of the anti-corruption fight – from corruption to a free economic environment, a real free economic competition. But the business also has another key role – to ensure the viability and effectiveness of its internal integrity and anti-corruption system”, the acting justice minister said. According to him, the economic companies not only must have an opportunity to carry out activities in a corruption-free atmosphere, but also must ensure ruling out corruption phenomena in their domestic environment.

The government is taking steps to solve the issues relating to the field, as well as to improve the business climate. Based on the results of the actions carried out, Armenia is among the top ten of the World Bank’s Doing Business 2018 report with an indicator of Starting a business, by capturing the 8th place.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan