The findings indicated that almost 1 in 2 Albanian citizens admit to directly or indirectly bribing public officials (49.6 %). This shows a worsening of around 5 percentage points compared to the study of 2014.

Has ruled that the mandate of Socialist Party MP Koço Kokëdhima is unconstitutional because his private company won a public procurement contract after he was elected. 

Azerbaijan’s Supreme Court has ordered that RFE/RL journalist Khadija Ismayilova be released from custody after reducing her prison term from 7.5 years in custody to a suspended term of 3.5 years. Ismayilova had been sentenced in September 2015 after being convicted on charges widely been seen as retaliation for her corruption investigation reporting

Prosecutors, judges and investigators from six government agencies took part in a workshop in Baku, which considered the conceptual and practical aspects of the application of plea bargaining and non-prosecution agreements with respect to corruption offences. The training was organised by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Anti-Corruption Directorate under the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

The Council of Europe’s experts presented examples of its best practices and explained challenges in antimoney laundering cases during a training session held in Baku. The course focused on financial investigations case studies, with particular attention given to successful money laundering prosecutions which involved complex schemes of offshore companies. The workshop was organised in cooperation with the Anti-Corruption Directorate under the General Prosecutor of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

During an anti-corruption forum in mid-May 2016, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Armenia, Piotr Switalski, noted that the absence of visible results in fighting corruption will result in the withdrawal of 15 million euros (about $17 million) pledged by the EU earlier for anti-corruption reforms. Among the outstanding issues is Armenia’s ratification of all provisions of the UN Convention against Corruption.

During midMay, the Armenian Government announced upcoming cross-cutting measures aimed at fighting corruption and monopoly. The first such measure is to decrease the use of official vehicles. The announced measures have however been taken with scepticism by those seeing the current leaders as the main source of problems.

The National Assembly of Armenia has passed on the 25th of May the final reading a new Electoral Code. According to the chief of government staff, Mr David Harutyunyan, the new code provides for mechanisms which allow avoiding the most common forms of fraud such as ballot stuffing, multiple voting, and the use of so-called “carousel” fraud. The mayors of the second and third largest towns of Gyumri and Vanadzor will be elected through indirect vote by their Councils of Elders, as is the case in the capital Yerevan. The new Parliament will have MPs elected only under the proportional system and their number will be cut from 131 to 101. The new electoral system is a hope to usher democratic development.

Bosnia needs to further develop its private sector, cut the public sector and fight pervasive corruption if it wants to increase its prosperity in future, according to Ian Brown, the Head of Office of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Bosnia. Experts highlighted that one of the priorities for the Bosnian economy is to cut the importance of the public sector, which according to the IMF is the second biggest in the region, with a current public expenditure of 41 per cent of the Bosnia's GDP in 2014.

Thousands of people rallied in Banja Luka in demonstrations for and against the regional Bosnian Serb government. The proEU Alliance for Changes is accusing the regional government of corruption and its leader Milorad Dodik of dictatorship, saying he has brought the region to the brink of financial collapse. In contrast, Dodik’s camp accuses the opposition of betraying Bosnian Serb national interests.

Culminating in the arrest of 10 people, including the head of the local regulator.

 As a part of the joint Council of Europe and the European Union’s PCF Project for Belarus, the Council organised a two-day training on the Liability of Legal Entities for the country’s prosecutors and investigators. In the course of the training, participants were made to consider different approaches to regulating corporate liability and various tools for the investigation and prosecution of companies involved in economic malfeasances. The training programme included a series of lectures, discussions and practical exercises. 

 Former interim prime minister Jiří Rusnok has been named as the new governor of the Czech National Bank. Rusnok, an economist who also served as finance minister and minister of industry and trade, will begin his six-year mandate in July. The new governor will have to oversee an eventual exit from the low crown policy, with President Zeman calling for “clearer communication between the national bank with the president, the government, experts and the public” to protect the independence of the Central Bank.

The Minister of Justice Robert Pelikan has revealed plans of a new proposed law on the state prosecution service. Speaking to Czech Television’s flagship public affairs programme, he stated the proposal has already been approved by the government but has still to go through the two houses of parliament. One of the much debated moves in the proposal is the creation of a new team of prosecutors which would handle major cases of corruption and economic crime.

After the Constitutional Court ruled that the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the polls was unconstitutional, MPs have re-convened and voted to delay the hugely controversial election. CoE anti-corruption digest 4 May 2016 “The way forward must be defined by all main political parties together" the European Commission's Vice-President, Federica Mogherini, said. EU officials reiterate that approaches which do not respect this principle are something that the EU cannot support and stand behind.

In the run-up to the elections on 5 June, Transparency International called for the poll to be postponed in order to limit the widespread corruption in the country. The anti-corruption body stated that the electoral registers need to be verified and have announced their support for the people protesting against the incumbent government by reporting that “Macedonia is facing a grand corruption crisis” at present. 

Which will enter into force on 1 July 2016.

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirkashvili, spoke of the nation’s successful steps towards eliminating corruption, noting that even though the progress may not be “groundbreaking”, the results could be regarded as “revolutionary”. He revealed that Georgia continued to aim for EU standards and hoped to eventually become an EU and NATO member. The British Secretaries for Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs reasserted their support to the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia, as well as its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Georgia has become co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OPG), an international platform uniting 69 foreign states to empower open and effective governance worldwide. The OGP, founded in 2011, is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili announced that Georgia’s new role in the OPG was due to the country’s successful reforms and continued efforts to provide better governance.

Amman-Jordan based Arab Bank settled a lawsuit brought by 300 families who accused the bank of funding Hamas-sponsored suicide attacks.

On the occasion of the London 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit, the Jordanian Minister of Justice Mr Bassam Talhouni reiterated CoE anti-corruption digest 5 May 2016 Jordan commitment to fight against corruption. Mr Talhouni recalled the setting-up of the Jordanian Anti-Corruption Commission as well as the enactment of strong laws to punish corrupt officials. According to the official, Jordan adopted several resolutions, including on the transparency of companies owners and on the establishment of a central register for foreign companies participating in public procurement bids. Furthermore, the Minister of Justice stated that Jordan would review the punishment against the professionals who favour tax evasion (such as auditors, lawyers, bank employees) and reinforce the Kingdom’s legislation on asset recovery.  

 The results of Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer show that corruption is among the main problems that the government needs to tackle, according to 25% of the Jordanians. Corruption comes right after poverty, unemployment and low wages. A high majority of the population (75%) considers that corruption has increased compared to the previous year and 70% of the interviewed state that reporting a corruption act is a duty. Based on the survey’s results, the Jordanian Integrity and Transparency Coalition “Rasheed” recommended, among other things, to amend the Penal Code in order to clearly condemn the use of personal connections to obtain posts or favours and to identify a proper punishment for such offenses.

Azem Syla, a prominent  CoE anti-corruption digest 5 June 2016
legislator from the governing Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, who has been accused of running a crime syndicate, appeared on Tuesday before a Pristina court. Six suspects have been already arrested and 50 others are under investigation over alleged scam. According to the prosecution, members of the group “deprived Kosovo of public property worth around
€30 million”.

The responsible Assembly Committee received 29 candidates who run for the position of director of Anti-corruption Agency and set up a working group for carrying out interviews. The second term of the current director will end in September 2016

A study found that about 10 per cent of corruption cases expired in 2015 because they were left unattended to, mainly because of delays by the prosecution. “There is corruption in Kosovo*, if not on the scale as is
commented, so it is imperative for justice institutions to conduct analysis on real corruption and the perception of citizens,” General Chief Prosecutor, Aleksandër Lumezi said. Under the assessment of anti-corruption measures that was carried out under EU/CoE Joint Project against Economic Crime, it was recommended in this regard “to take the necessary legislative steps to ensure that time-limits for investigation do not hinder the effective combating of corruption”. 

Iran and Kyrgyzstan signed four memorandums of understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation during the 11th meeting of Iran-Kyrgyzstan Joint Economic Committee in Bishkek. The cooperation documents focused on the establishment of an investment joint council, combating money laundering, energy cooperation and a ten-year economic cooperation programme.
 

According to a new poll released by IRI's Center for Insights in Survey Research, the people of Kyrgyzstan have mixed views about their country and their prospects. 65 percent of respondents say they believe their country is headed in the right direction. Yet 94 percent believe corruption is a very big or big issue in Kyrgyzstan and an overwhelming 74 percent say the government fails to do enough to stop it. The courts, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the police were all listed as among the most corrupt institutions in the country.

The ex-president of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, was released from custody after he signed a plea bargain with the special prosecution for organised crime and corruption and instead agreed to serve three years and eight months in prison. Marovic was the first and last president of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, which was dissolved in 2006 after the Montenegrins had voted in in favour of independence. His family and associates were widely criticised in the media for a range of abuses and he was arrested in December 2015 in connection with a long-running case focusing on Budva. After five months in detention, he reportedly agreed to reveal where 15 million euros that went missing from the Budva municipality ended up, in exchange for a reduced jail term.

In a publication by the Civic Alliance analysing Montenegro’s development since the declaration of its independence 10 years ago, the reports suggested that the nation was most affected by corruption scandals and human rights violations. It added that the problems were often the root of why financial investigations continued to be largely inefficient, though indicated that progress had been made from the poor compliance levels of the mid-2000s.

The government earmarked 1.8 billion dirhams for the implementation of the nationwide strategy against corruption during a launch event in early May. The strategy, which is expected to span ten years, includes 16 lines and up to 240 projects across ten different programs. The efficiency of the strategy will be assessed through the corruption perceptions index by Transparency International, the business climate index and the global competitiveness index.

According to a report on the prevalence of corruption in the Middle East and North Africa by Transparency International, approximately 48 percent of Moroccans paid a bribe to officials while trying to access public services over the past year, 18 points higher than the regional average of 30 percent -. However, just over a quarter of Moroccans said corruption has risen “a lot or
somewhat” in the last 12 months – the lowest rate of any of the nine Arab countries that were surveyed.

Romanian National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) has asked for the temporary arrest of a group of Israeli businessmen including Beny Steinmetz, Tal Silberstein and Moshe Agavi. The group could face charges of money laundering, fraud and bribery. The large scale corruption probe also involves the nephew of Romania’s King Carol II, Paul Lambrino, local businessman Remus Truica, and media owner Dan Andronic for the illegal restitution of real estate that cost the state nearly $150 million.

The former president Traian Basescu allegedly committed money laundering crimes between 2000 and 2005, when he was mayor  CoE anti-corruption digest 7 May 2016 of Bucharest. The accusations are related to successive contracts for the sale and purchase of real estate properties. The prosecutors opened the case based on two notifications, one from the National Office for Preventing and Combating Money Laundering and one from the
Political Investigations Group.

After the Colectiv Club fire (end of October 2015), which left 64 people dead, new and previously unknown corruption accusations are coming to the surface. With Romanian authorities admitting that at least some of the fire victims died because of infections acquired in the hospitals, the latest
scandal to affect the Romanian public healthcare system brings to the forefront accusations that the Romanian state purchased diluted disinfectant substances at very high prices for hospitals across the country.

Russian President Vladmir Putin has drafted a bill that would introduce hefty fines or prison time for acting as a middleman in commercial graft. The Lower House’s official website stated that mediation in graft schemes committed by representatives of private businesses as well as promises of such mediation would be punished with a fine up to 700,000 roubles, where necessary. The explanatory bill attached with the document explained the necessity for the criminalisation of graft mediation by Russia’s obligations taken when the country joined the anti-corruption convention of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

TASS News Agency reported that according to officials from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 700 billion roubles (US$ 10.5 billion) were transferred illegally from Russia into offshore accounts in 2015. The Ministry of Internal Affairs found that 75,000 economic crimes had been committed in 2015 with damages amounting to more than 87 billion roubles — more than a third involving “large and very large” sums. The Ministry also said that the first quarter of 2016 saw more than 60 percent of economic crimes committed by an organized group or criminal community.

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and fellow anti-corruption activists were attacked by a group of men outside the terminal of Anapa airport. Navalny, the leader of the country’s liberal opposition and the founder of Russia’a Anti-corruption Foundation, stated him and his compatriots were attacked by Cossack paramilitaries, who have historically been staunch supporters of President Putin.

The Serbian police sector, human rights institutions and independent think tanks discussed the newly introduced anti-corruption tool for Serbian police - integrity testing, pros and cons, as well as possible challenges in implementation by the Ministry of Interior Office of Internal Control. Following regulation, testing it is considered to be needed in order to ensure a strict distinction between its application as a preventive mechanism or as a criminal investigative tool.

According to the Serbian Ombudsman Report, the police were ordered to step down in responding to reports of an ongoing illegal demolition of buildings and businesses in Savamala, the place of the future Belgrade Waterfront complex. The Belgrade Waterfront is a project that the government signed with a United Arab Emirates-based company, for the construction of a massive residential and office space complex, including the largest shopping mall in the Balkans – part of which is to be built in the area that was demolished during the event. The Minister of Interior has denied any claims of involvement, stating that the authorities do not have information on who could be responsible for the demolition.

According to Mr Hamed Abid, Secretary General of the Tunisian Anti-Corruption Authority, as of today the Authority has received 12000 dossiers related to corruption cases and has already examined half of them. Mr Abid also stressed that the creation of the new Anti-Corruption Authority foreseen by the Constitution will strengthen the Authority prerogatives and powers in the fight against corruption – among other things, with regard to the possibility to deal with asset declarations. 

The newly launched Country Partnership Framework (CPF), adopted by the World Bank, is focused on three pillars which aim to make Tunisia an economic hub, reduce regional disparities and increase social inclusion, said the World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia, Eileen Murray. Regarding the issue of corruption, Murray stated that the World Bank has already provided backing to the Tunisian government for the creation of the website "Mizaniatouna" which facilitates citizens to access details of public spending. It also pledged assistance to the Finance Ministry in setting up an integrated information and management system and backed reforms initiated to CoE anti-corruption digest 9 May 2016 simplify administrative procedures. 

The Presidency of the Government has allocated an additional funding of 1.4 million Dinars to support the activities of the Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC) in 2016.

Statements by President Petro Poroshenko saying that none of the offshore companies he set up in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cyprus and the Netherlands have bank accounts or conduct any financial activities appear to be false. On March 25 records indicate that nearly € 4 million was moved out of Ukraine to a Poroshenko company in Cyprus and on April 27 Swiss Rothschild Trust AG became the company’s shareholder. There were repeated requests to make the text of Poroshenko’s trust agreement public but no document was revealed yet. 

Ukrainians are increasingly beginning to report cases of corruption to law enforcement agencies, according to the results of a study conducted by Transparency International. The campaign’s statement suggested that 45.5 percent of Ukrainians were ready to report corruption to law enforcement and press for just punishment of bribe takers – an increase of 32.5 percent from 2014.

 The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau of Poland have agreed to cooperate in the exchange of information and best practices sharing in preventing, exposing, stopping, investigating and solving corruption-related offences. The corresponding Memorandum of Understanding was signed by both Bureaus` directors in Warsaw. This is the first time the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has signed a Memorandum with the anticorruption agency of another country.