After a thorough consultation process with national authorities, the project on “Strengthening anti-money laundering and asset recovery in Azerbaijan” has developed a holistic analysis of the institutional and legislative asset recovery framework in Azerbaijan, complemented with practical recommendations in line with international standards and best practices of successful jurisdictions. To facilitate discussion on the conclusions and recommendations of the paper, a multi-stakeholder workshop was organised with 31 representatives of 12 Azerbaijani institutions which included the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Anti-Corruption General Directorate under the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Monitoring Service, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy, State Security Service, State Customs Committee, State Service on Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, the Supreme Court and the Court on Serious Crimes.

The meeting allowed to highlight the key findings and recommendations that would contribute to the government’s efforts in achieving tangible results in the recovery of assets from criminal proceeds. Solutions were suggested in the form of operational, institutional and legislative measures, considered to be realistically and progressively actionable in the Azerbaijani context. These include the development of a specific asset recovery action plan, establishment of a dedicated national asset recovery committee, setting up or designating national asset recovery and asset management offices, introducing legal provisions for financial investigations and non-conviction based confiscation, a swift access to different registers by investigators for more effective asset tracing, and the creation of a national central bank account register, among other measures put forward. The authorities also indicated a need to further explore the opportunities of international cooperation and the best methods and procedures in seeking mutual legal assistance for recovery of criminal assets. The technical paper was then revised taking into consideration the views expressed by the national authorities during the workshop, and is to be delivered in its final version to all beneficiary institutions.

Setting up an effective asset recovery system in Azerbaijan requires relevant legislative and institutional changes, and this initiative helps define the relevant set of measures and steps required to meet this endeavour. The concerned authorities have positively received the paper and already indicated strong will and pro-activeness in implementing its recommendations.

This activity is organised within the framework of the EU/CoE Partnership for Good Governance II Project on “Strengthening anti-money laundering and asset recovery in Azerbaijan” (PGG II-AZ) which is funded jointly by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.