On 31 May, the fourth online discussion dedicated to the development of the 5th Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan, took place in the format of a public-private dialogue,
The discussion consisted of two parts. First, the possibilities of interoperability of existing and planned registers of real beneficiaries were discussed, which was followed by the discussion of the elaboration and introduction of participatory mechanisms in the budgeting process (state and community components).
The event was organized within the framework of the “Supporting Co-Creation Process of the 5th OGP Action Plan” project implemented by the Armavir Development Center, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association and the Freedom of Information Center NGO with the support of the Open Government Partnership, within the framework of the “EU for Integrity Programme for the Eastern Partnership” funded by the European Union.
Ms Lilya Afrikyan, OGP Coordinator/Point of Contact, Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, mentioned that the main problem is the perception of the concept of “beneficial owners” and the processes related to it.
“Another question arises ․ Do we have the professional community that can assess whether the data collected is necessary or not? We must understand whether there is a need or interest. Sometimes we do a process that stems from our international obligations, but there is no need for it. I would like to unite our efforts and understand the significance of the process,” Ms Afrikyan said.
Mr. Movses Aristakesyan, President of the “Center of Economic Right” NGO, highlighted the consolidation of the institute beneficial owners at the constitutional level.
“I was looking through the register of beneficial owners. The former, as well as the current officials are owners of a commercial organization; they have shares, which they also acquired after taking office. My concern is this, “Everyone in Armenia must obey the law, citizens must be interested in the work of the tool, have an impact on the work of the register,” Mr. Aristakesyan said.
Ms Mariam Zadoyan, Program Expert at the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, said that she had studied international experience and had not met a reference to the institute of beneficial owners at the constitutional level in any country.
“It is considered that the level of the law is sufficient. The institute of trust management is not established in Armenia either. In other countries, when an official entrusts the business to trust management, he/she can in no way influence the company’s decision-making. According to the anti-corruption strategy, the issues related to this institution should have been settled. Due to the epidemic and the war, the implementation of the action plan has been delayed, but the good thing is that the issue is in the center of attention. Let’s hope that this institute will be established in Armenia in the coming years,” the expert said.
According to Mr. Sergey Shahnazaryan, Head of the Procurement Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance, it is planned to have 3 interconnected platforms in the future: New systems for e-procurement, registry and anti-corruption committee.
“Everything will start from the state register. When the participant submits an application, the program will then download the information of the beneficial owners to the system. There will simply be no opportunity to deceive or lie. The frame can be enlarged or reduced. When the application deadline expires, the applications of all the participants will be opened, the information will become available. In addition, there is a requirement to submit statements of the absence of conflict of interest. Under the new system, procurement officials must sign and publish a declaration of no conflict of interest. It must be confirmed that the participants of the competition are not affiliated organizations with them,” Mr. Shahnazaryan said.
Ms Syuzanna Soghomonyan, Program Expert of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, speaking about the development and introduction of Participatory mechanisms in the budgeting process, said that one of the important mechanisms is the correct introduction of the citizen’s budget tool, which should be clear to the citizens, and the draft budget programs should be discussed with both NGO representatives and citizens..
“There are a certain group of problems in Armenia, due to which CSOs do not participate in budget discussions. The first is the lack of professional skills. The second is the lack of mobilization, forces and a team coordinating the process. The third is the low level of bilateral interest of the state-public sectors,” Ms Soghomonyan said.
Ms Svetlana Harosyan, the representative of the Ministry of Finance emphasized in her speech that the participatory processes are important.
“We have 2 targets within the framework of the program. One is the disclosure of information on budget requests, to which we are consistent. The second is the formation of platforms for discussion with civil society organizations on budget applications,” Ms Harosyan said, emphasizing that there is no legislative issue that does not allow the process to be properly implemented.
Ms Karine Harutyunyan, the executive director of the Economic Development Research Center, mentioned in her speech that CSOs are passive. She sees a danger in the activation of only 3-5 organizations by the state.
“Reforms have started, they have gained great momentum. Each of us must inform civil society about these tools. During the last two months, we have dealt with 60 representatives of 40 CSOs,” Ms Harutyunyan, said, emphasizing that the state bodies do not make efforts to organize the process.
Mr. Karen Zadoyan, the President of the Armenian Lawyers’ Association summed up and noted out 2 groups of issues: the lack of access to and transparency of information, as well as participation.
“We have had more than 20 discussions on draft budgets in 2019; we understand that there is a problem of capacities. If the government wants the process to be effective, we must be able to develop those capacities. It is not effective to post only invitations on the websites of the structures, to send invitations and write that they have provided discussions,” Mr. Zadoyan said, adding that the discussions, monitoring and evaluation that take place in the National Assembly are also important.
According to him, organizations with a serious professional basis are needed here, and international organizations should carry out balanced activities.
The participants of the discussion reached an agreement regarding further work.