Parliament extends the mandate of the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform. Parliament has prolonged the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on Electoral Reform activity until 21 February 2019. Electoral reform will be part of the evaluation of Albania with regard to the possible opening of EU accession negotiations and Albania is expected to fully implement all OSCE/ODIHR recommendations before the local elections which will be held on 30 June 2019. Good international standards suggest that amendments to the electoral legislation should be enacted at the latest six months prior to elections.

New Transparency Report Gives Albania a poor score. Transparency International published the results of its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2018 ranking Albania at place 99 among the 180 countries and territories included in the index. Albania has the worst score among the Balkan states, closely followed by Kosovo* and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. Albania scored 36 out of 100 points, registering a drop of two points from the 2017 rating and a drop of three points from 2016. Transparency International spokesperson for the Balkans, Lidija Prokic says its score raises concern about the country's further progress, but added that with the ongoing vetting of judges in the country and anti-corruption institutional framework almost complete, it remains to be seen if its institutions will deliver on expectations in the coming year.

Transparency International recommends immediate revision of election procedure of members of the Corruption Prevention Centre. Transparency International’s Anti-Corruption Centre has submitted recommendations to the Parliament of Armenia and the Government aimed at carrying out an effective fight against corruption. The representative of the Centre stressed that the fight against corruption should be systematic and encompass all sectors. However, in order to make it effective, it is required to initiate studies of corruption risks and envisage preventive actions in all public administration bodies. The Centre also recommended immediate revision of the procedure for electing members of the Corruption Prevention Commission.

Statement on Armenia’s draft Anticorruption Strategy and the Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2022. The Draft Anti-corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan 2019-2022 was posted on the unified website of the Ministry of Justice for publication of draft legal acts on 19 December 2018. Transparency International Armenia made a number of comments and stated that the development process of the draft document, as well as its structure and content, are of great concern.

278 cases of corruption sent to Azerbaijan’s courts in 2018. The Anti-Corruption Directorate under the General Prosecutor’s Office filed 278 criminal cases against 431 people on corruption charges in 2018. 68 criminal cases were opened against 121 persons over misappropriation and embezzlement charges, while 55 criminal cases were initiated against 86 persons charged with fraud. The remaining cases were related to abuse of power, passive and active bribery, and other corruption offences.

Azerbaijan is launching single e-procurement website. The single e-procurement website which is being launched in Azerbaijan will help to completely automate the public procurement process. The creation of the website is primarily aimed at ensuring transparency in public procurement.

An inter-agency taskforce prepares bill on civil service. The proposed legislation harmonises regulations governing public, military and paramilitary service, and provides for a single system of civil service. It defines ethical standards applicable to civil servants. Other proposals put forward by the taskforce concern introduction of job rotation and setting up a body for civil service management.

Bosnia and Herzegovina appoints First Female Chief State Prosecutor. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council elected Gordana Tadic as the new chief state prosecutor for a six-year term in office, making her the first woman in the country’s history to hold the position. Tadic has headed the Bosnian prosecution in an acting role for the past two-and-a-half years since the suspension of the former Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihovic, who is currently on trial for alleged corruption based on allegations that he misused his powers by ensuring that investigations into Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik were stopped. Presenting her platform, Tadic proposed that the State Prosecution’s departments for organised crime and corruption be merged in order to increase efficiency.

Bulgaria charges six with financing Syrian 'Terrorist' Groups As Network Uncovered. Bulgarian prosecutors have charged five Syrians and a Bulgarian woman with financing terrorist groups in the Middle East. "The group transferred at least 25 million euros [$29 million] to terrorist organizations over four years," said Rumiana Arnaudova, a spokeswoman for the attorney general. Deputy Attorney General Ivan Guechev said the network was "without precedent in the European Union." The money transfers are alleged to have taken place since 2016.

Bulgaria revokes citizenship for Russian millionaire Adonev. A Bulgarian official says the Bulgarian citizenship of Russian millionaire Sergey Adonev has been revoked over a 20-year-old fraud conviction in the United States. Bulgarian Vice President Iliana Yotova said she had signed the final document revoking Adonev’s citizenship in May 2018. According to Bulgarian law, her office has the final say about granting or revoking citizenship. The revocation came just days before the expiry of the 10-year period during which it could be done. Yotova says she signed the document “following a thorough analysis by our security services.” Yotova said, as far as she knew, “authorities did not have such information back in 2008 when the citizenship was granted.” Adonev, 57, who co-founded the Russian mobile operator Yota, sponsored one of the candidates in last year’s Russian presidential election, Ksenia Sobchak. The Free Europe Bulgaria news service broke the story last week, just a day before the European Commission issued a warning against countries having “golden passports” schemes. The EU executive warned that selling citizenship or residence permits to wealthy individuals could help foreign organized crime groups infiltrate the bloc and increase the risk of money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.

Bulgarian Police Make Terrorism Financing Arrests. Bulgarian special police forces have dismantled a suspected terrorism financing ring and detained 43 people in coordinated raids across the country. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev said on 18 January that one of the suspects was a Syrian citizen permanently residing in Bulgaria who allegedly transferred money to people abroad linked to militant groups. Geshev told a news conference in Sofia that "the main suspect has been in touch and has financed people who provide logistics to international terrorist groups." Geshev said that the bust follows a yearlong investigation in several European Union member states. He added that the investigation was not about any direct terrorist activities in Bulgaria.

Global finance: Georgia ranks 49th among world’s safest countries. In the newest safety ranking of Global Finance magazine, Georgia takes 49th place among 128 countries with a safety index score of 9.68, making Georgia the safest country in the region. In 2017, Georgia ranked 57th, scoring 14.41 among 131 countries.

EU report: Georgia making clear progress on its reform agenda. On 31 January 2019, the EU released the 3rd Association Implementation Report on Georgia. This report sets out the state-of-play of Georgia's implementation of its commitments under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement over the past year, ahead of the EU-Georgia Association Council, to be held in Brussels on 5 March 2019. The report highlights that continued legislative reform and the steady implementation of rules and standards in line with the Association Agreement are crucial to allow Georgian citizens to fully reap the benefits of this close relationship between the EU and Georgia.

Georgia’s score in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has slightly improved. In the 2018 CPI, released by the anti-corruption watchdog on 29 January, Georgia is ranked 41st among 180 countries with a score of 58 (on a scale where 0 is the worst and 100 is the best result), the highest figure in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

Jordan’s 2018 Corruption Perception Index. With a score of 49, Jordan increased a point on the CPI since last year, ranking 58th out of 180 countries. Transparency International (TI) regarded Jordan as one of the countries to watch in the coming years as despite relative stability, its geographic and economic status puts the country in the spotlight. Similarly, a report published by TI chapter Rasheed for Transparency and Integrity, which reviewed Jordan’s commitment to SDG 16, made several recommendations to the Jordanian government to improve its anti-corruption efforts.

Top Jordanian Politicians Arrested on Corruption Charges. Jordan's state security court has arrested several high-profile politicians on charges of illegal tobacco production, smuggling and bribery. State media report that former the Water and Irrigation Minister and the former Director of Customs, among other officials, were indicted on 23 January 2019. The case, dubbed the "cigarette scandal," involved the selling of counterfeit cigarettes worth millions of dollars.

New Chair of the Kosovo* Prosecutorial Council elected. On 14 January 2018, the new Chair of the Kosovo* Prosecutorial Council was elected by secret and unanimous voting for a 2 year-term. During this meeting the mandate of the Director of the Secretariat of the Prosecutorial Council was also extended for a further three years.

Kosovo* drops in the global corruption barometer. Transparency International global corruption barometer has listed Kosovo* 93rd as opposed to a year ago when it ranked 85th. “Some of the challenges that Kosovo* faces in its fight against corruption include insufficient transparency, weak institutions and inadequate space for citizens’ engagement. To address these issues, Kosovo’s* Democratic Institute monitors public institutions, promotes the transparency of the funding of public institutions and organises different campaigns to promote citizens’ role in decision making”, the report states.

Fresh Corruption Charges Filed Against Kyrgyz Ex-PM. Kyrgyzstan's former prime minister, who was arrested in 2018 on corruption charges linked to the modernization of a Bishkek power plant, is facing additional charges in another corruption case. The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on 10 January that Sapar Isakov had been charged with corruption that led to serious financial losses in connection with the reconstruction of the Kyrgyz State Museum of History in Bishkek. Earlier in January, UKMK said investigations into the Bishkek power-plant corruption case had been completed. That case stems back to 2013, when Isakov was implementing a project to modernize the Bishkek thermal power station. At the time, Isakov was the deputy head of the administration of then-President Almazbek Atambaev. Isakov is accused of using his position to lobby for a Chinese company during the tender for the contract to modernize the power plant. The Chinese company TBEA was eventually awarded the contract. Criminal proceedings in the case against Isakov were launched after an accident at the Bishkek power station in January 2018 left thousands of local households without heat for several days.

Beneficial Ownership included in the assets declaration template. The notion of “beneficial owner” was recently reformulated in the legislation related to assets and personal interest declarations to be in line the Anti-Money Laundering Law which entered into force in February 2018. For this reason, the National Integrity Authority announced modifications of the template for the submission of asset and personal interest declarations.

Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office sends another case against Vlad Filat to court. The Anti-Corruption Prosecution Office finalized the money laundering investigations involving former Prime Minister, Vlad Filat. He was charged with money laundering, using a close person as intermediary and transferring substantial sums of money to a consulting company abroad which was contracted to provide assistance to a political party during an electoral campaign. In July 2016, Vlad Filat was already sentenced to nine years in jail for influence peddling and passive corruption.

Asset declarations of Montenegro’s President under public scrutiny. Among number of affairs initiated by Mr Dusko Knezevic, the owner of Atlas bank indicted for money laundering, a long list of allegations is also tied to current President and former Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović. Mr Knezevic has submitted documentation proving that he paid the debt of Mr Djukanovic on his revolving card in the amount of €16,000 euros in 2016. NGOs invited Agency for Prevention of Corruption to issue misdemeanour order to Mr Djukanovic, for not declaring an increase in assets larger than €5000 and for failing to report the gift in the amount of €16000, or debt on revolving cards, but the Agency for Prevention of Corruption declined the initiative and stated that settling public officials’ debt on revolving cards cannot be considered as a gift.

Ex-mayor of Podgorica caught on tape receiving $100,000 USD for party funding. Mr Dusko Knezevic, indicted in case where €500 million were allegedly laundered through his banks, has submitted to the media the footage of himself handing an envelope containing €97.500 euros to former mayor of Podgorica Slavoljub Stijepović prior to his electoral campaign rally in Zeta (Podgorica). The Agency for Prevention of Corruption concluded that there are no indications that Democractic Party of Socialists has received private donations in amount which exceeds the legal barrier, which is two thousand euros for donations by natural entities and ten thousand for donations by legal entities. However, the ex-Mayor of Podgorica was indicted by the Special State Prosecution for money laundering through assistance.

Mr Knezevic has also submitted to the media the audio file where Vice governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro, Velibor Milošević extorts the money from him, needed to bribe 6 controllers of Central bank. In the recording it is clearly audible that the report on operations of the Atlas bank, in possession of Mr Knezevic will be negative unless he bribes 6 controllers in amounts of €5-6000 each. Mr Milosevic was arrested and charged with abuse of public office.

Morocco’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index improved by 3 points. Morocco’s corruption score may have improved, but the reality suggests that the country still has much to do to implement the many democracy-enhancing laws it has passed in recent months.

Romania’s new anti-corruption chief steps down. The interim head of Romania’s anti-corruption agency said on 8 January she was stepping down, citing a “hostile environment”, just as the country took on the EU’s presidency. Anca Jurma had become the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) after her predecessor Laura Codruța Kövesi — considered a symbol of the country’s fight against graft — was controversially removed at the government’s behest in July 2018.

Romanian justice minister's decree pushes back timeline to fight graft verdicts. Romania's Justice Minister has drafted an emergency decree that allows politicians and others convicted of graft since 2014 in one of the European Union's most corrupt countries to challenge the verdicts handed down by the Supreme Court. The measure would benefit several high-level politicians, including Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party, who was ruled out from being prime minister by a 2015 suspended jail term in a vote-rigging case. The measure is the latest in a series of legislative and personnel changes made by the ruling Social Democrats since they took power two years ago. The moves have been seen as threats to judicial independence and could further heighten EU concerns about democratic values in some of the eastern nations among its members.

Parliament seeks financial punishment for countries breaching rule of law. European Union countries that undermine the bloc’s democratic principles could lose EU funds, under a draft law backed by the European Parliament on 17 January. The bill is seen as a new tool to fight threats to the independence of the courts and corruption in countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved a programme on anti-corruption education for students for 2019. The programme envisages that all federal state education standards (syllabuses) will include lessons, seminars, lectures and quests “that allow developing intolerant attitudes toward corrupt behaviour, and in professional activities – help curb such behaviour.” The programme has been launched to implement the National Anticorruption Plan for 2018-2020.

Russia ranked 138th out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index released on 29 January 2019, down from 135th last year. The global civil society group called the drop “an unsurprising decline given weak political and civil rights as well as an ineffective system of checks and balances” in Russia.

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office informs on the funds returned from abroad. In recent years Russian companies received about $110 million from Switzerland frozen at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation. Also at the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office accounts of criminals living abroad were arrested and frozen for about 250 million euros and real estate for about €300 million. In particular, for the last 2 years in Switzerland, €35 million have been frozen in the accounts of persons who had stolen funds from the “Moscow United Electric Grid Company”, as well as more than 12 million Swiss francs in the accounts of the former Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation accused of embezzling OAO "Rosagroleasing" and a number of Russian banks. An arrest of €1.8 million was imposed on the accounts of a Russian citizen accused of embezzlement while carrying out restoration work in St. Petersburg.

Serbia falls by two points on the 2018 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. According to Transparency International, Serbia is an example of a “captured political system”, referring to the excessive influence of its President Aleksandar Vucic. It is projected that the trend of dropping on the CPI scale may persist if the government continues to undermine those bodies and institutions that are responsible for maintaining the rule of law. In 2018, despite opposition from NGOs, professional associations and others, the government has pushed for increased influence over the judiciary, among other issues.

Former political leaders implicated in money laundering, extortion and illicit land deals. A wide-ranging corruption investigation by the Macedonian special prosecutor has unearthed new evidence of wrongdoing in dozens of deals by VMRO-DPMNE, the right-wing party that ruled the country between 2006 and 2017. The prosecutor alleged that the party illegally collected at least €4.6 million in a money laundering and extortion scheme, accepted illegal donations to construct its lavish “White Palace” headquarters in Skopje, and illegally purchased at least 68 other properties across the country worth €17.5 million in total. The allegations are part of two indictments charging party officials — including former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who fled to Hungary in November — with money laundering and abuse of their official positions. Gruevski has been convicted and other party officials charged in related cases as part of a broader government corruption probe.

30 suspicious bank accounts and $66.7 million frozen in 2018. Tunisia’s financial Intelligence Unit (Commission Tunisienne des Analyses Financières-CTAF), whose mission is to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, declared that 600 suspicions of financial corruption and suspicious foreign cash flows were sent to it in 2018. After a review of these declarations, 30 suspicious bank accounts have been frozen and 30 cases sent to the public prosecutor. TND 200 million ($66.7 million) sent to be laundered in Tunisia have also been frozen.

Fight against corruption in Tunisia: two thirds of asset declarations not received. The Anti-Corruption Authority (INLUCC) has received only one third of the declarations of assets expected at the end of 2018. If the elected officials do not comply with the additional time limit, they may be subject to prosecution.

Tunisia rises one place in Corruption Perceptions Index. Tunisia obtained a score of 43/100, gaining one point compared to the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index. With this score, it finished 73rd out of 180 countries, tied with Morocco, which moved up 8 places in the ranking. Since 2015, Tunisia has continued to rise in the ranking of the fight against corruption, although it is slow.

Competition for Anti-Corruption Court judges continues. Out of 113 applicants who passed a written exam, High Qualification Commission of Judges and Public Council of International Experts excluded 42 candidates who were deemed to have questionable track records. As a final step, the High Qualification Commission of Judges will conduct interviews with the remaining 71 candidates to determine judicial appointments.

Ukraine marginally improves its score on Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perception Index. The country received 32 points for its control of corruption, ranking 120th among 180 countries, two points higher than in 2017.