Parliament adopts amendments to the legislative framework regulating political party and election campaign finance in Albania. Following the Political agreement that was reached between the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party, Parliament voted amendments to the Law “On political parties”, amendments to the Criminal Code and to the Law “On audio-visual media” whose provisions largely comply with some of the recommendations formulated by the CoE/EU Horizontal Facility Action against Economic Crime in Albania (AEC-ALB). The new provisions of the law on political parties provide for the reduction of the cost of elections, through clearer definition on permitted funds, more effective limits and restrictions on particular campaigning activities, and measures to monitor election campaign finances. Sanctions on electoral offences are increased and punishable with a higher imprisonment term. The Criminal Code provides the offences of active corruption in elections, use of public function for political or electoral activities and abuse of police authority. As exclusion to the stipulations of the Electoral Code, during the electoral campaign of the 2017, private national and local satellite radios and televisions are required to make available free of charge political advertisement for electoral subjects.

Prime Minister approves Order on the prohibition of the use of state resources for party purposes during the upcoming parliamentary elections. Order No 65 dated 12.5.2017 was approved following the recommendations of the AEC-ALB on the misuse of state funds during the election campaign. Using public goods, administrative actions, or human and financial resources of the state for political campaigning is prohibited under this Executive Order. The different state institutions and ministries have been tasked with monitoring the implementation of these measures.

Albanian Parliament held extraordinary session on Cabinet reshuffle, vetting and CEC. Albania’s Parliament approved the Cabinet reshuffle in implementation of the electoral agreement of May 18 between Prime Minister Edi Rama and the opposition leader Lulzim Basha. The Parliament approved the members of the Parliamentary minority into the three ad hoc commissions on the vetting process as well as the chairman and one member of the Central Election Commission (CEC).  This step opens the way to the implementation of the law on the transitional re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors. The Implementation of the vetting law is considered as very important in guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary and fight against corruption.

Armenia government proposes to form new anticorruption body. The bill on a Corruption Prevention Body was approved at the Cabinet meeting of the government. Accordingly, the new agency will monitor ethics, conflicts of interest, and other requirements for officials. It will also accept declarations of income. However these requirements will apply not solely to senior officials, but also to civil servants working in the high corruption risk areas.

New law on information freedom can become anticorruption tool according to the Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia. The amendments and additions to the Law on Freedom of Information have reinforced the idea of a single electronic platform for freedom of information in Armenia, and this will enable people and organisations to send queries and obtain the necessary information. 

Judge of Ararat and Vayots Dzor Marzes Court has been indicted for bribery. The Special Investigation Service finalised the preliminary investigation of the criminal case initiated on the fact of demanding and receiving a bribe by the judge of RA Ararat and Vayots Dzor Marses First Instance Court of General Jurisdiction Levon Arazyan, in return for carrying out certain actions in favour of a defendant. Based on the collected evidence, the Special Investigation Service drew up an indictment and passed the case to the prosecutor carrying out procedural supervision to confirm the indictment and send it to the court.

President approves legal amendments to enforce financial sanctions. On 17 May 2017, President approved the Law on amendments to the Tax Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan. New amendments clarified financial sanctions for violation of the law “On Cashless Payments”. President also approved the amendments to the Criminal Code and Administrative Offences Codes, and State Procurement Law to enforce sanctions against illegal procurement activities.  

Azerbaijani Parliament ratifies legal amendments to better coordinate fight against illegal earnings and terrorism. On 31 May 2017, Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis (parliament) ratified the amendments to the law on Countering the legalization of illegal earnings and other properties through crimes and the financing of terrorism which assigned the Commission on Combatting Corruption as a key agency to coordinate activities of all relevant state entities, as well as supervise implementation of state programs. Milli Majlis approved the Law on amendments to the Statue on Anti-Corruption Commission accordingly to reflect the above changes. Milli Majlis also ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism.

Open Government Partnership visits Baku to assess Azerbaijan’s progress after its status made inactive. On 22-23 May 2017, members of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee and the Support Unit, travelled to Azerbaijan as part of OGP’s Response Policy process to discuss progress since 4 May 2016 decision to make Azerbaijan inactive due to unresolved constraints on the operating environment for NGOs. The May visit to Baku will inform a Technical Report on Progress on the Action Points by the government of Azerbaijan. OGP’s Criteria and Standards subcommittee will then assess progress made and prepare a recommendation on the next steps in the Azerbaijan Response process for consideration by the OGP Steering Committee, which will be meeting on June 27-28 in Washington DC.

Belarus adopts State programme on combating crime and corruption for 2017-2019. The state programme is aimed at implementing an integrated, coherent and consistent state policy based on the planning and coordination of the activities of state bodies and other organisations in the field of combating crime and corruption. One of the main goals of the programme is to ensure the effective functioning and further improvement of the system of crime prevention through coordinated activities and the expansion of interaction between state and public structures. Thus, it is planned to reduce the quantitative indicators of crime and corruption, improve the state of public and economic security, and reduce social damage.

According to the Prosecutor General of Belarus Alexander Konyuk, one of the most important tasks of the prosecutor's office is the coordination of law enforcement activities of state bodies that combat crime and corruption, as well as activities to prevent offenses.

Bosnia and Herzegovina adopts Amendments to the Decision on taking out foreign cash and checks. The aim for amending the Decision is, among other, the fulfilment of the obligations stated within BiH Action Plan for Removal of Deficiencies in the Fight Against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing, which shall contribute to the removal of BiH from the FATF's "Grey List".

The Bulgarian State Agency on National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs propose a whole new law against the money laundering. The new law aims to align the Bulgarian legislation with the European Directive on money laundering, investigation, seizure and confiscation of benefits of crimes and terrorist financing.    

Bulgaria's anti-corruption authority issued a critical report on the fight against corruption (BORKOR). One  of the conclusions is that the authorities responsible for fighting corruption lack capacity and coordination. There are ambiguous responsibilities and there is no institution with a clear commitment to investigating high-level corruption. BORKOR warns that if a new anti-corruption body is created, it must be equally distanced from the three branches of government and have a high degree of independence.

Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn visited Georgia. During his visit on 5 May 2017, EU Commissioner held meetings with Georgian officials to discuss the implementation of the Association Agreement and the preparation for the Eastern Partnership Summit. Hahn praised “impressive” Georgian reforms, and said the country had made “remarkable efforts” to implement the Association Agreement and was continuing to work on “consolidating democracy, strengthening the rule of law and ensuring good governance.”

US, Georgia sign General Security of Information Agreement. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili signed a General Security of Information Agreement (GSOIA) on May 9 at the Department of State.  “The agreement represents a major milestone in security cooperation between the United States and Georgia. It establishes a legal foundation for bilateral intelligence sharing and will strengthen counterterrorism cooperation between the United States and Georgia”, the Department of State said after the signing ceremony.

Extraordinary Parliamentary Session to increase penalties for crimes against public assets. Among the legislation which will be discussed during the next extraordinary Parliamentary session, there will be measures to increase penalties for violations against public funds. The information was provided by the Minister for Political and Parliamentary Affairs, which recalled also the positive results obtained during the last Parliamentary ordinary session, among which the referral of suspected corruption files to the Jordan Integrity and Anti-corruption Commission and to the Attorney General office.

Publication of three corruption risk assessments. The EU Office in Kosovo* and the Council of Europe published on 3 May 2017 the results of three corruption risk assessments in the area of judiciary, prosecution and public procurement prepared by Council of Europe experts in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe Project against Economic Crime in Kosovo* (PECK II). The assessments showed interesting findings on relevant issues which should be seriously considered by Kosovo* authorities in the next phase, given that these issues touch directly the lives of citizens and affect the quality of their well-being.

Kosovo* lawmakers dismiss government in no confidence motion. On 10 May 2017 Kosovo* lawmakers backed a no-confidence motion against the Government of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, triggering a snap parliamentary election within 45 days (the date is set to 11 June 2017). Seventy-eight MPs in the 120-seat parliament voted to dismiss the cabinet, marking an end to the coalition of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and President Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party (PDK). The no-confidence motion was launched by the opposition, which had accused the government of failing to meet its campaign pledges and creating public distrust. The motion was also supported by the PDK.

2016 Court Monitoring Report. BIRN and Internews Kosova marked a decade of monitoring Kosovo*’s judicial system with the launch of the 2016 Court Monitoring Report. This year’s report reflects the monitoring of 600 court hearings across 26 courts, including basic courts, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal.

Kyrgyzstan has to reconcile legislation in the field of combating money laundering and financing terrorism by November. The conclusions of the evaluation carried out by the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (EAG) may not meet Kyrgyzstan's expectations, EAG chairman Yury Chikhanchin told during a briefing on May 25, 2017.

Former Kyrgyz PM faces Corruption Investigation. The Prosecutor-General's Office in Kyrgyzstan says that former Prime Minister Igor Chudinov is under investigation in a corruption probe. In a separate statement, the State Committee for National Security said that Chudinov, former Economy and Trade Minister Akylbek Japarov, and several other people were suspected of mishandling $2.9 million in state funds allocated for agricultural projects in 2009.

Corruption Arrests Rock Moldova's Pro-EU Coalition. A minister in Moldova's pro-European government and two of his deputies resigned on Monday, after their party withdrew from the ruling coalition over the arrest of its deputy chairman on corruption charges.

Moldova's Chisinau Mayor detained as Part of Corruption Probe. Dorin Chirtoaca, the mayor of Moldova's capital of Chisinau was detained by the National Anti-Corruption Center and prosecutors in corruption related charges. As many as nine people were detained, including the secretary of Chisinau's Municipal Council and two councillors as well as six employees of the companies connected with the cases. The City Hall employees announce that the institution's activity is paralysed.

Moldova’s Proposed Electoral Change is a Blow to Democracy. A proposal to change to a mixed electoral system in Moldova would entrench corruption and harm the young democracy. According to Chatham House, introducing elements of first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting inhibits political pluralism and cements corrupt networks of power.

Council of Europe experts discuss investigations of corruption based on state audit reports with Montenegrin authorities. Two Council of Europe experts met with high officials of the State Audit Institution, Agency for Prevention of Corruption, Administration for Money Laundering, Higher Court in Podgorica as well as with special and state prosecutors and representatives of civil society to discuss and collect information on implementation of financial investigations of corruption based on State Audit Institution reports. The collected information will be used for development of the “Manual on good practices and guidelines for investigations of corruption based on state audit reports”. The purpose of the Manual is to facilitate utilization of audit report findings in financial investigations of corruption and to identify investigative steps necessary for devising valid evidence, based on audit report findings and resources necessary for obtaining them.

Assessing the regulatory framework for financing of political entities and electoral campaigns. Representatives of monitoring and oversight bodies, political parties and Parliament participated in the workshop to discuss the “Assessment of the regulatory framework for financing of political entities and electoral campaigns”, produced within the Council of Europe/European Union Horizontal Facility Action against Economic Crime in Montenegro. The workshop provided a venue to discuss possible reform of the Law on Financing of Political Entities, and to define recommendations which would address problems that occurred in the practical implementation of the Law during the last elections.

Hearings and court proceedings related to the alleged terrorist attack against the state on the election day last October, involving 23 individuals, continued over the month of May. Following the submission by the Special Prosecutor to the High Court of the main indictment against 14 (Montenegrin, Russian and Serbian) individuals including two Democratic Front (DF) coalition’s MPs, the High Court will decide over the case in the first part of June.

Government discusses the role of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The Government is currently discussing the possibility to institutionalise the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CNAC- foreseen by the National Anti-Corruption Strategy) as a governance mechanism to reinforce transparency and the fight against corruption. CNAC will ensure a follow-up and monitoring of the strategic objectives, measures and projects to fight against corruption and promote transparency. It will accompany the different sectors and institutions in the implementation of the anti-corruption policy.  CNAC, which will regroup governmental authorities, anti-corruption institutions, private sector and civil society representatives under the Presidency of the Government can ensure the coherence and continuity in the implementation and evaluation of the projects of the Anti-Corruption Strategy. A decree for the creation of CNAC will be presented by the Government in the near future.

Integrity and transparency are key values for an effective public administration reform. The Head of Government declared that the reform of the Moroccan public administration shall be guided by the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability. In recalling the key role of the Ministry of Public Administration and Public Function in the reform, he also stressed the importance to simplify administrative procedures and, in parallel, promote also a change in the mentalities.

Romania's constitutional court upholds anti-corruption law. The Constitutional Court has upheld a law preventing people with convictions from serving as ministers, a victory for the country's anti-corruption fight. The ruling deals a blow to the powerful chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, who cannot be prime minister due to a conviction for vote rigging.

High level Chief Executive Officer, prosecuted for money laundering. Sergei Bulgac has been formally notified by the National Anticorruption Directorate of being prosecuted as suspect in connection with bribe giving and money laundering offenses, a company communiqué sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange informs. As a result, the retail investors can withdraw from the subscription if they want to, due to the investigation.

Final charges brought against Russian ex-economy minister Ulyukayev. The Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Department for High-Profile Investigations has finally charged former Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev with committing a crime stipulated by part 6, article 290 of the Russian Criminal Code ("Large-scale bribe-taking by a person holding a state post of the Russian Federation").

Court ordered Navalny to delete video with corruption allegations of Prime Minister Medvedev and billionaire Alisher Usmanov. The Moscow district court has ruled that a video released by opposition activist and anti-corruption blogger Aleksey Navalny that accuses top government officials and big businessmen of corruption is “inconsistent with reality” and must be deleted. The court was ruling in favor of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who filed a lawsuit against Navalny in April accusing the activist of “tarnishing his honor, dignity and reputation.” Usmanov asked for no financial compensation, but wanted Navalny to retract the allegedly false information about him in the video. The court also obliged Navalny and his NGO to issue an official retraction concerning the video and publish it on the Foundation for Countering Corruption website within three months.

Anti-corruption journalist murdered. Dmitry Popkov, editor-in-chief for local newspaper Ton-M, who reported on police corruption, has been killed in the Russian city of Minusinsk. His body was found dead in a traditional Russian bathhouse close to his home. Police found several gunshot wounds on the 42-year-old's body. His newspaper, which was published under the slogan, "We write what other people stay silent about," had previously fallen victim to government pressure and police raids.

Serbian Courts Sit Tight on Extradition Demands. Serbia's Justice Ministry told BIRN Belgrade is seeking extradition of 120 persons from other countries, while other states seek the extradition of 80 persons from Serbia. One such case concerns the former Romanian MP and businessman Sebastian Ghita, who is wanted in Romania on several corruption charges.

Shareholders of the collapsed Agrobanka after 5 years: There is no justice. Shareholders of Agrobanka said that "the court process that the state allegedly conducted against the suspects in this affair has been rendered completely meaningless because the real culprits are not in the dock, while the trial is stalled after five years due to corruption at the very top of the state."

The Special Public Prosecutor’s 3 new Ts. The Special Public Prosecutor opened 3 new cases – “Talir”, “Traektorija” and “Trevnik”, one of which is connected to illegal political party financing and money laundering. In the case “Talir”,  the political party president, accepted illegal funds to finance the party and did not return nor donated to the budget to be used for humanitarian purposes as required by law. 301,531,662 denars, or 4.9 million euros were deposited in this way on the party’s account” - said Fetai. The funds were used to pay bills, marketing services, public opinion polls, restaurants, hotel services and also real estate was purchased. The political party, VMRO-DPMNE also made a contract for co-investment to build the headquarters of the party with the company AD "Beton" - Skopje. The total investments of the company were 556 million, of which 442 million was the value of the object, and 131 million were paid at the expense of the party as regulating rights and co-investment contracts. “This was actually a donation from AD “Beton” to VMRO-DPMNE. According to legal provisions, since the company participated in tenders for public procurement, it could not be a donor. The first suspect should have returned the money or donated them to the budget” - said Fetai. The Special Public Prosecution announced that it will ask for freezing of the assets of the party, including the building that is the headquarters of VMRO-DPMNE.

New scandal for NLB Tutunska Bank. The Basic Public Prosecution for fighting organized crime and corruption opened an investigation against the current and the former manager of NLB Tutunska Bank, a former minister, an attorney, a notary public, and a citizen of Slovenia, who are all suspected of abusing their positions, and of money laundering. The Public Prosecutor did not give any information or initials of the suspects, but only stated: "There are suspicions that in the period from 2006 to 2017 actions for the establishment of companies were taken, loans were raised and transfer of funds was made to Slovenian and Austrian companies.  Then part of the funds was invested in the establishment of new companies and purchase of real property in the city of Bitola".

Draft organic law on the new Anti-Corruption Authority adopted by Parliamentary Commission. The Parliamentary Commission for administration and army forces issues adopted a draft organic law on the new Anti-Corruption Authority foreseen by the Constitution. The President of the current Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC) declared during his audition with the Parliamentary Commission that the draft law limits the prerogatives and independence of the Anti-Corruption Authority and doesn’t give real powers to the President. The adoption of the draft organic law shall await for the adoption by the Parliament of a framework law on common provisions for all Tunisian constitutional authorities.

The President of the Anti-Corruption Authority demands an adequate budget for the fight against corruption. The President of the Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC) considers that the National Strategy for good governance and fight against corruption would require a budget of approximately 21 million Tunisian Dinars for 2017 and 2018. The budget shall be provided by the Tunisian State and by other international donors and organisations. According to the President, the lack of financial resources was among the main reasons for the delays in the implementation of the Strategy.

Commissioner for Human Rights calls on Ukraine to revise the anti-corruption legislation that might negatively affect NGOs and journalists. The Commissioner recommends removing the recently-enacted provisions in the legislation on corruption prevention requiring civil society representatives or other persons working on anti-corruption issues to declare their assets in the same way as state officials or public servants.

Ukraine to share company ownership data. Ukraine has taken a step in the fight against corporate secrecy and corruption by agreeing to share data on who ultimately owns and controls Ukrainian companies. Transparency International Ukraine, the government and the Open Ownership consortium recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate Ukraine’s beneficial ownership information into the Open Ownership global register. Ukraine’s national beneficial ownership data will now be automatically linked to data from other countries and made available to the global public for free.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine receives full access to e-declaration register. NABU said that the bureau’s access to the automated information and reference systems, registers and databases that belong to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention is envisaged in the memorandum signed by the two agencies. From now on detectives and analysts from NABU have a chance of processing all data from the register via the closed cryptographed network from the bureau’s offices. This facilitates and speeds up the analysis of e-declarations of persons under investigations conducted by NABU.