Government revealed its Program for 2017-20121 and approved two important decisions. The Program focuses on the implementation of the judicial reform, especially on the vetting process (re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors, background checking of their assets, etc.). Another major priority is the fight against high-level corruption through seizure and confiscation of assets deriving from criminal activity and of unjustified property of corrupt officials.

The Council of Ministers approved a Decision defining the responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice in the field of fighting corruption which will act as the National Coordinator against Corruption. In the framework of these new functions, the Ministry coordinates the work on policy drafting and prepares legal and sub legal acts on the prevention and fight against corruption and exercises any other state responsibility that is conferred by law or by acts of the Council of Ministers.

The Government approved two decisions providing the premises for the vetting institutions (four independent Qualification Commissions, a Specialised Qualification Chamber and two Public Commissioners) to ensure their proper functioning. The Government also provided financial support for the salaries of the vetting bodies’ staff, a decision that is being discussed also in the Committee on Legal Affairs, Public Administration and Human Rights and will be adopted soon by the Albanian Parliament. Upon completion of this process, the vetting institutions will be ready to initiate the vetting process of judges and prosecutors.

Armenian President convenes National Security Council meeting to discuss the pace of institutional reforms and the public service system efficiency in the fight against corruption, as well as issues concerning the Information Security and Information Policy concept. Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms and Justice Minister briefed the Council on the complex of anti-corruption measures implemented so far, including the package of draft laws developed by the working group established pursuant to the presidential decree of 20 December 2016 “On creating a working group for institutional system reform in the field of combating corruption,” the anti-corruption measures implemented on the basis of international cooperation, as well as the new anti-corruption strategy directions. Furthermore, the Council discussed and approved the draft Information Security and Information Policy Concept which describes the current state of Armenia’s information security, the basic values, principles, interests, threats and challenges, policy goals, issues of domestic and international cooperation, etc.

Armenia to adopt “effective mechanisms” against misuse of administrative resources. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan instructed the Minister of Justice Davit Harutyunyan to analyse the recommendations given in the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission’s Final Report and prepare the corresponding legislative package, paying special attention to introduction of effective legal mechanisms against misuse of administrative resources. Touching on the efforts in anti-corruption reforms, Serzh Sargsyan stated that it was necessary to pay special attention to introduction of structural procedures that ensure application of adopted laws.

Head of independent news outlet released from custody. Mehman Aliyev, a prominent journalist and head of an independent news outlet - Turan News Agency, who had been arrested on charges of ‘tax evasion’ and ‘abuse of power’, was released from custody on 11 September 2017. International diplomatic missions and organisations welcomed this positive step on the part of the authorities and called on them to drop all charges against Mehman Aliyev.

European parliament calls for investigation into “Azerbaijani Laundromat”. The European parliament called for an investigation into allegations that Azerbaijan ran a secret $2.9bn slush fund to pay influential Europeans to paint a positive image of the authoritarian regime. In a separate move, the head of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, called for unprecedented legal action against Azerbaijan over its refusal to release a political prisoner in defiance of the European court on human rights.

Azerbaijani elite regime allegedly ran a complex money-laundering operation called “Azerbaijani Laundromat”. On 4 September the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published an article revealing a $2.9 billion laundering scheme operated by the Azerbaijani authorities, which was allegedly used to influence prominent European decision-makers. The Azerbaijani Government found this attempt as a “scandalous” campaign used by the Armenian diaspora to tarnish Azerbaijan’s international image.

Belarus takes part in in the meeting of the Inter-governmental Council for Combating Corruption. Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Konyuk took part in the meeting of the Inter-governmental Council for Combating Corruption (ICCC) of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, held in Kazan. At the meeting of the ICCC, the prospects for further development of cooperation in the sphere of combating corruption were discussed. In particular, issues of improving the regulatory framework and coordinating the activities within the framework of joint projects of the member states of the CIS in the sphere of combating corruption were considered. The Council approved the draft Agreement on Cooperation of the CIS Member States on Countering Corruption aimed at further strengthening cooperation between countries.

EU helps BiH counter corruption at all levels of governance. Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative, speaking at the anti-corruption conference welcomed in his opening remarks some progress made recently by the country in addressing a few of the outstanding GRECO recommendations, but noted that there is still a lot to be done. “Next to more ambitious efforts to build a legislative and institutional framework capable to address also high-level corruption, BiH needs to step up transparency, ensure an open discussion with the public and better engage citizens to become “watchdogs” of the public interest,” underlined Ambassador Wigemark.

Bulgaria to investigate $3bn Azerbaijan Laundromat claims. Bulgaria has ordered an investigation after revelations by “The Guardian” and other media partners that Azerbaijan operated a secret $2.9bn fund to lobby influential Europeans and to funnel money offshore. Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said he was launching an inquiry into Kalin Mitrev, Bulgaria’s representative to the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Mitrev received at least €425,000 (£390,000) from the scheme, which has been nicknamed the Azerbaijan Laundromat. Mitrev denies wrongdoing. He says the payments to his Swiss and Bulgarian accounts were for legitimate consultancy work and happened before he joined the bank’s board in London. The reports were a “doomed political attack” on his wife, Irina Bokova, the Director Deneral of Unesco, Mitrev said.

Dutch MEP: Bulgarian police shake down EU citizens crossing Turkish border. This past summer, thousands of EU citizens again experienced serious obstacles because of corruption in Bulgaria, being forced to pay off border police and fraudulent fines to traffic police, according to Netherlands member of the European Parliament Kati Piri. Together with fellow MEP Kathleen van Brempt, she has put a series of questions to the European Commission. The first is, “in addition to annual CVM reports, what actions does the Commission take to ensure that all EU citizens can travel safely through Bulgaria?” Piri and Van Brempt also asked about the effectiveness of the actions undertaken by the Commission and how this effectiveness was assessed.

Czech lawmakers awarded for fight against corruption. Prague, Sept 21 (CTK) - The group Reconstruction of the State awarded eight members of the Czech Chamber of Deputies and three members of the Senate for most actively promoting nine anti-corruption laws. These included the laws on the register of agreements, on the financing of parties and on the register of politicians' property. The main prizes went to the Chamber of Deputies deputy chairmen Radek Vondracek (ANO) and Petr Gazdik (Mayors and Independents, STAN), chairman of Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) deputy group Jiri Mihola, Jan Farsky (STAN) and Jan Sedlacek (ANO).

Georgia becomes OGP Chair. For the first time in history, Georgia becomes Chair of Open Government Partnership (OGP), an organisation bringing together 75 countries. Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili officially succeeded French President Emmanuel Macron as OGP Chair for one-year tenure. During a high-level event in New York, under the 72nd UN General Assembly Session, Giorgi Kvirikashvili emphasized that Georgia takes great pride in chairing OGP and contributing to the work of this most powerful global movement for openness and deeper democracies.

Corruption slander case brought by Judge Vladimer Kakabadze against Chairman of ICC. On 21 September, Tbilisi City Court announced its judgement regarding the case brought by Judge Vladimir Kakabadze against the Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Georgia Mr Fady Asly. With the aim to restore the honor and dignity of the judge, Mr Fady Asly has been ordered by the Court to issue statements in those media channels, where he declared the judge’s ruling against Philip Morris and British American Tobacco as corrupt back in March 2017. Mr Asly intends to appeal the decision at all levels and to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg once all domestic remedies in Georgia have been exhausted.

New Kosovo* government gets parliament approval. On 9 September 2017, Kosovo* lawmakers elected Ramush Haradinaj as the new Prime Minister. Haradinaj was elected with a narrow majority by securing only 61 votes in the Assembly of 120 seats. The Prime Minister pledged that his government would fight corruption and continue the EU-facilitated dialogue with Serbia. The statement by EU Office in Kosovo*/EU Special Representative, EULEX and Heads of EU Missions on the formation of institutions in Kosovo*, urges the newly-formed government to start working immediately on strengthening the institutions and implementing the necessary reforms, particularly on the rule of law, fight against corruption and improving the economy, in line with the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, the European Reform Agenda, and other relevant EU-Kosovo* agreements.

Mandatory suspension and/or removal of public officials indicted and convicted for corruption. The Head of the EU Office/EU Special Representative, Nataliya Apostolova, recalled that reviewing and adopting legislation which makes mandatory the suspension and/or removal of public officials respectively indicted and convicted for corruption, is an immediate priority that Kosovo* authorities committed themselves to fulfill within the European Reform Agenda. “I encourage the inclusion of the required legal provisions in both the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to make it possible. I also encourage the authorities of Kosovo to step up efforts to comprehensively reform the criminal legislation in order to make it a robust tool for fighting organized crime and corruption, as required by the SAA and 2016 Country Report”, Apostolova said. This statement was made at the occasion of the regular meeting of the Joint Rule of Law Coordination Board.

Corruption named most problematic factor for doing business in Kyrgyzstan. Corruption, policy instability, government instability and other factors were named most problematic factors for doing business in Kyrgyzstan, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018.

Romania and the Republic of Moldova to intensify co-operation in the fight against corruption. The two countries currently co-operate in the field of corruption based on a trilateral agreement, including Ukraine, signed in 1999. On 6 September 2017, negotiations have started between Romania and the Republic of Moldova to define the terms of a new co-operation agreement. The memorandum will entail exchange of experts and operational data but also an increase in joint investigation teams.

Suspended Chisinau mayor to be charged in a new criminal case. Dorin Chirtoaca, former mayor of Chisinau, was arrested on 25 May 2017 on charges of passive corruption and influence peddling in the case of pay parking lots and placed under house arrest. On 6 September 2017, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office announced that he is being investigated in another criminal case related to the municipal housing sector where allegedly conciliation transactions and payments from the municipal budget were not made based on the transparent implementation of court decisions. Reportedly, housing distribution was done preferentially and unsystematically.

Inter-institutional platform to oversee the investigation of banking fraud and consequent criticism. The authorities announced their willingness to create an inter-institutional platform for monitoring the investigation of banking frauds and for recovering the embezzled funds within the Republic of Moldova and abroad, especially those linked to the “theft of the century” from beginning of 2016. The platform shall consist of representatives of the Government, Parliament, National Bank of Moldova, Prosecutor General’s Office, National Anticorruption Center, National Commission for Financial Markets and other institutions. Its aim will be to seek cooperation for efficient management of cases of banking fraud and for the subsequent recovery of assets. Regarding the latter, difficulties were reported by some of the attendees, who highlighted the need for improvement in this process. On 20 September, some experts criticised the idea as a way to disperse responsibility and show void commitment to the donors, who repeatedly asked for updates on actions taken to recover the money. The authorities were also criticized for the failure to ever provide a thorough analysis, explaining how such massive operation could be put in place.

Asset recovery training for judges and prosecutors. The EU/CoE Action against Economic Crime in Montenegro (AEC-MNE) supported the Judicial Training Centre of Montenegro in conducting the training. A Council of Europe expert presented a comparative analysis of Montenegrin legislation with European and international standards of tracing and recovery of assets deriving from corruption offences and gave examples of cases of high-level corruption which have been successfully prosecuted in other member states. Judges and prosecutors learnt about EU procedures for tracing and recovering assets deriving from corruption offences at seminar organised with the Judicial Training Centre of Montenegro on 18 September 2017.

Seminar „Financial investigations based on State Audit Reports“. Within the framework of the EU/CoE Action against Economic Crime in Montenegro, representatives of prosecution, audit and police, discussed models of cooperation, as well as concrete steps in conducting financial investigation based on state audit reports. Two Council of Europe experts presented a technical paper, outlining good practice examples and models for such cooperation as well as identifying current gaps in the use of Audit Reports in Financial Investigations.

President of Montenegro called for local elections in 3 municipalities. A series of local elections started on 25 September, when President of Montenegro has announced that elections will take place in municipalities Cetinje, Mojkovac and Petnjica on November 26. The elections for remaining municipalities, including the capital Podgorica, will take place in spring of 2018.

The Governing Council adopted the draft decree modifying the decree establishing the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The amendments are aimed at expanding the mandate of the Commission which will now be responsible for monitoring of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, as well as examining and approving all anti-corruption programmes, projects and initiatives, including their follow-up and evaluation. Furthermore, the amendments enlarge the composition of the Commission and its division into two categories: the first one to include members of government and the second one - some governance bodies, NGOs, and representatives of civil society. Presidency of the Commission is entrusted to the Head of Government and its secretariat to the Ministry of Public Administration and Civil Service Reform. The Commission shall hold its meetings at least twice a year.

Two seats will now be reserved for civil society in the National Anti-Corruption Commission of Morocco. In accordance with the recently adopted decree, the head of government Saad-Eddin El Othmani will appoint two NGOs that will sit in the commission as official and permanent members for a renewable two-year term.

Kazan became one-day CIS anti-corruption capital. UN experts from Albania and Zimbabwe will evaluate how Russia implements the United Nations Convention against Corruption. Corrupt officials will be blacklisted and the Russian Prosecutor General's Office will lobby amendments to expend the power of the Office in search and seizure of Russians' accounts and property abroad. This was one of the main topics discussed by high-level representatives of the six CIS countries during the meeting of the Inter-governmental Council for Combating Corruption held in Kazan.

Transparency International: How Russia implements London 2016 AC Summit commitments. The international movement Transparency International published the report Promise to Practice: Monitoring global progress of the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit commitments. According to the report of the national chapter of the Transparency International, Russia has initiated activities to implement 81% of its commitments. To date, the country implemented 2 out of 16 commitments related to automatic exchange of financial account information among tax authorities of CRS MCAA member states, and to the implementation of Open Data Charter. However, the commitment related to transparency of the beneficial ownership of all companies involved in public contracting turned out to be too ambitious for Russia. There is no information in open sources on measures taken to comply with this commitment.

Putin dismisses Anti-Corruption Department Head Oleg Plokhoi. Oleg Plokhoi has been the department head since its establishment in 2013. The Kremlin press service reported that the former Anti-Corruption Department Head is going to become the First Deputy Minister of Justice. Andrey Chobotov was appointed in his stead. He began his career as a KGB officer, before moving to the Security Council of Russia in 1999, and then to the Ministry of Defence. In 2008, he joined the Military Industrial Commission. Chobotov left the Military Industrial Commission in 2012 pursuant to a presidential decree and moved to the secretariat of Sergei Ivanov, the Presidential Administration Head.

Accusations of nepotism and unethical work. After only 100 days in office, the new Macedonian government is accused of nepotism and unethical work. The state owned ELEM energy producing company made public the information about a procurement bid for rubber transportation lines that was won by the “Feroinvest” company. The 2.6 million EUR contract caused a public outcry given that the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister Koco Angjuse is the owner of the company. Mr Angjusev stated that he has respected the law and has assigned another person as manager of the company, however he acknowledge that he remains the owner. In the meantime the bid has been canceled.

Call for new State Public Prosecutor. After dismissal of Mr Zvrlevski from the function of the State Public Prosecutor in August 2017, the Parliament published in September a call for a new State Public Prosecutor. The call will be open for 15 days from the day of its publication in the Official Gazette. The Council of Public Prosecutors will examine applications and give positive or negative assessment. The Government will then send the name of the candidate who received the positive assessment to Parliament to be elected. At least 61 votes are needed to elect the new Public Prosecutor. The new Public Prosecutor is to be elected after the local elections scheduled for the 15 October.

Romanian deputy PM Shhaideh investigated for abuse of office. Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation against Deputy Prime Minister Sevil Shhaideh for suspected abuse of office in a land transfer case. The probe against Shhaideh, 52, is the first high-profile investigation faced by the nine-month old Social Democrat (PSD) government in one of the European Union’s most graft-prone member states. Shhaideh, also a Minister for regional development, is a close ally of PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, who has received a suspended sentence for vote rigging and is currently on trial in a separate abuse of office case.

Romania’s self-proclaimed Roma king detained in € 5 mln tax evasion case. Dorin Cioaba, the self-proclaimed king of Roma, was detained for 24 hours on 13 September 2017 in a case of tax evasion in which the damage to the state budget is estimated at over €5 million, reports local news agency Mediafax. Police officers carried out 28 searches in Mehedinti, Timis, Arges, Cluj, Sibiu, Hunedoara, Dolj and Gorj counties, and in Bucharest. The action targeted people suspected of tax evasion and money laundering. Several people have been detained in this case, including Cioaba. His wife Sighisoara was also taken in for questioning after searches at their house in Sibiu.

Former Romanian Post director prosecuted for taking € 1.6 mln bribe. The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) has started the prosecution of former Romanian Post manager Mihai Toader, on charges of bribery and money laundering. According to DNA, in 2008 Toader, who was the general manager of the Romanian Post at that time, allegedly received € 1.6 million from a Cypriot software company, through an intermediary. In exchange, the director awarded a public procurement contract to that company. “It is worth mentioning that the software programs sold by the company to C.N. Posta Romana S.A. with € 6,583,000 actually cost € 500,000,” reads the DNA statement.

Defence Minister under scrutiny regarding origins of property. Serbia’s Defense Minister, Aleksandar Vulin, told the country’s anti-corruption agency that his wife’s aunt from Canada lent him US$ 245,000 to buy their Belgrade apartment, but submitted unconvincing evidence for his claim, Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) reported. After KRIK investigated the origin of money which Defence Minister used to buy an apartment, his party called KRIK’s editor a “drug addict”.

The Head of the Internal Affairs Department of the Ministry of Interior is dismissed. The Internal Control Department of the Ministry of Interior, among other things, is in charge of establishing responsibility in the chain of command of the police and determining the reasons for police failure in the Hercegovacka Street case, when unidentified persons forcefully demolished houses in an overnight raid in order to make room for the Belgrade Waterfront project. One of the most important documents in the investigation of this case is the report of the Internal Control Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was only recently submitted to the High Prosecutor.

Survey Shows Balkan Citizens Still Trust 'Corrupt' Police. A new survey published by a regional network of NGOs shows that well over half of all surveyed citizens in the Western Balkans - 58 per cent - trust their police forces despite viewing them as corrupt. The popular belief that the police are both corrupt and trustworthy at the same time suggests people have accepted that corruption is widely present in the police, and have become accustomed to it as an inevitable.

Tunisian Parliament adopts controversial amnesty law. On 13 September, the Parliament adopted so-called law on “reconciliation in the administrative field” supported by President Béji Caid Essebsi despite strong opposition from a number of MPs. 117 MPs approved it after a day of heated debate in which members exchanged accusations and invectives. Initially, the bill provided for the amnesty of certain persons - businessmen, members of the regime of the ousted dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and others - prosecuted for corruption, in return for payment to the State of illegally acquired sums, and a financial penalty. In the face of the public outcry, the law has been revised to include only those officials who are accused of being involved in administrative corruption and have not received bribes, but it still faces strong opposition.

The National Conference on the Fight against Corruption in Sports. The conference was organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs on 19 September 2017. On this occasion Minister Majdoline Cherni received Mourad Mazar, President of the International Anti-Corruption Sports Federation, who was accompanied by the Director of the Legal Department, Maurice Tihal, as well as the FIACS Delegate.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) reveals low level of convictions in the corruption related criminal proceedings. Among 86 criminal cases sent by the NABU detectives and the prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) to courts, only 23 decisions were passed. 17 convictions came into force. The trials regarding one third of the cases sent to courts by NABU and SAPO have not started yet. Among reasons why the courts fail to consider the NABU cases are: the problem of determining jurisdiction, lack of time and recusals of judges, and failures to appear in courts.

The audit of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) should not be a priority at the moment. According to Giovanni Kessler, Director General of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and the member of Ukrainian International Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, “A proper audit should be carried out only after a few years, when the institution’s activity has been well-established. That is when it will be possible to truly evaluate its work — not now, while NABU is still in the making.”  There is a danger that the planned audit of NABU will be carried out solely for the purpose of using the results to dismiss its head: “It could be used as an opportunity to dismiss him from his position. Consequently, the independence of the bureau’s leadership could be jeopardised”.

President of Ukraine supports the establishment of the anti-corruption chamber. President Petro Poroshenko commented on the creation of the Anti-Corruption Court answering the question about his assessment of the reforms aimed to fight corruption and the “roadmap” for the next 12 months. The President noted that the judicial reform must undergo the expertise in the Venice Commission and the EU Council, with the results expected to be provided already in October. “It is not about the name, but about the level of trust and efficiency of the anti-corruption body,” Petro Poroshenko said. He added that in such situation “we can create the anti-corruption chamber already next month”, not excluding the possibility of creating the Anti-Corruption Court in 2019 or 2020.