Corruption in Armenia continues growing, according to population

PanARMENIAN.Net - Executive Director of Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center (Transparency International Armenia) Varuzhan Hoktanyan said that in the opinion of half of Armenian respondents, the level of corruption in Armenia increased, and only 15% of them think that it had decreased in the past three years.

Hoktanyan told journalists that the survey was conducted in Armenia from June 10 to 20, 2010 by Romir holding, a well-known Russian polling and marketing research company.

Besides, the expert noted that the most corrupt area in Armenia is perceived education system, followed by police and judiciary. Meanwhile, there is almost no country covered by a similar survey, where education system is perceived as the most corrupt one and in no other country the education system received such high points (4.2) on a 1 to 5 scale, where 1 is for “absolutely non-corrupt” and 5 – as “absolutely corrupt.”

In addition, 22% of Armenian respondents paid bribes within the 12-month period, preceding the survey. It is worth mentioning that his is a sharp decline compared to 2009 when the figure was 43%.

The actions of the Armenian government in the fight against corruption were considered as ineffective by 53% of respondents, and as effective – only 27%. According to 27% of respondents, it was neither effective, nor ineffective. In this aspect, this is a slight setback, as in 2009 48% of respondents considered the Armenian government’s actions as ineffective, and 38% - as effective.