The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body-GRECO published its annual report for 2019, examining how its Member States have been implementing GRECO’s recommendations on the prevention of corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. Earlier, the RA Ministry of Justice presented the Armenian translation of the second compliance report on the fulfillment of Armenia's commitments of the recommendations issued in the GRECO’s fourth evaluation report on Armenia. With this analysis, we tried to compare the assessments given to Armenia with those of other member states of the Eastern Partnership. We also touched upon those recommendations presented to Armenia in the fourth round evaluation report, which were not sufficiently implemented, or during the implementation of which the authorities made significant omissions. The study shows that the Armenian authorities did not make enough efforts to implement a number of recommendations; as a result, there are half measure solutions and serious omissions in various areas. Full material is only available in Armenian․

The objective of the present analysis is to assess the execution of the state budget of the RA in the given period. First, we describe the general state of the economy of the RA, namely the driving forces of economic activity, the developments in individual sectors of the economy, the behavior of the components of the demand – consumption and investment – and so on. Afterwards, we analyze the performance of government revenues and expenditures by comparing the actual and planned values of the respective indicators. We conclude the analysis by summarizing the main observations and results. Full material is only available in Armenian․

The South Caucasus region has traditionally been at the core of Britain's geopolitical interests, and London still attaches great importance to the processes taking place in the region. With this analysis, we have tried to understand the geopolitical consequences of the Brexit process, as well as to assess the impact it will have on British policy in the South Caucasus. The study of a number of processes has led to the conclusion that after the Brexit process, London will try to strengthen its presence and influence in the South Caucasus region. This presence can and should be used for the benefit of Armenia, including in the issue of the Karabakh conflict, using also the ties and authority of the President of the Republic of Armenia.

Recently, the " COVID-19 Regional Safety Assessment Report" was published, which presents the situation with coronavirus, security rating and threats in 200 countries around the world. With this analysis, we have tried to highlight the most remarkable data for Armenia, as well as compare them with the data of other countries in the region. According to the report, Armenia ranks 81st, behind all countries in the region. At the same time, the data reflected in it show that the severe epidemic situation in Armenia is conditioned not by the fact that the potential of the state is limited, or by the behavior and culture of the population, but by the failure of quarantine and inefficient management. Full material is only available in Armenian․

There is a lot of research and evidence showing that economic reforms can succeed if they rely on credible and comprehensive information and data. The latter allows to diagnose the macroeconomic situation accurately, paving the way for effective managerial decisions. In this regard, it is of utmost importance to have a quantitative estimate for the shadow economy of the RA. To this end, we develop an econometric model, based on the currency demand approach. According to computations, the shadow economy of the RA amounts to 27-28% of the formal GDP. Furthermore, in the RA a slowdown in the speed of the contraction of the shadow economy has been observed since mid-2016. This implies that it is necessary to rethink the strategy of formalising the shadow economy of the RA, by placing a special emphasis on the following 3 dimensions – revision of tax rules, modification of the model of tax administration and restrictions on cash transactions. Full material is only available in Armenian.

The objective of the present analysis is to assess the execution of the state budget of the RA in the given period. First, we describe the general state of the economy of the RA, namely the driving forces of economic activity, the developments in individual sectors of the economy, the behavior of the components of the demand – consumption and investment – and so on. Afterwards, we analyze the performance of government revenues and expenditures by comparing the actual and planned values of the respective indicators. We conclude the analysis by summarizing the main observations and results. Full material is only available in Armenian.

Tourism is one of priority sectors of Armenian economy. That’s why it is not surprisingly, that development of the sector and the growth of tourists flows were reflected in pre-election programme of “My step” Alliance, which received the support of the majority of Armenian citizens in the 2018, as well as in the "Program of the Government of the Republic of Armenia" adopted on February 8, 2019. 

This study presents the promises made by the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the political majority in the tourism development, analyses the steps taken by the Government for the implementation of that promises in period 2018-2019, as well as the possible impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the sector. Full material is only available in Armenian.

In the present analysis, given the data published by the Statistical Committee of the RA, we study the recent social-economic developments in the economy of the RA. In particular, we consider the cumulative indicator of economic activity of the given month, its sectoral distribution, as well as the dynamics of individual sectors of the economy. We also analyze economic developments in the foreign trade, labour market and fiscal system of the RA. In addition, some aspects of the financial system (inflation, deposits and loans), as well as the behaviour of the exchange rate, are touched upon. Full material is only available in Armenian.

The spread of the new coronavirus has forced to reveal and implement alternative mechanisms in order to insure, on the one hand, the sustainable functioning of state institutions, the provision of public services and, on the other hand, to prevent the spread of the disease and ensure public health and safety. The effective provision of public services should comprise also the sphere of justice because a person, his dignity and rights are at the center of the modern legal state. The state is obliged to provide appropriate organizational mechanisms and procedures guaranteeing the exercise of fundamental human rights. This study examines the measures taken in different countries to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection, including the fields of criminal, civil law and procedure, e-justice, as well as penitentiary law. Based on a comparative analysis of the measures taken in Armenia and abroad additional measures to prevent the consequences of the infection for the justice field are proposed. Full material is only available in Armenian.

The supplement to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which envisages liability for making public calls to exert violence, for publicly justifying violence or for advocating such violence (hate speech) entered into force on 16 May of 2020. “Luys” foundation has conducted a research on the legitimacy of the criminalization of the hate speech in the context of freedom of expression and proportionality of its restriction. The research addresses also the relevant international documents on restricting the hate speech, as well as examines the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the experience of other countries. Full material is only available in Armenian.