On the occasion of 107^th anniversary of the establishment of the RA Prosecutor’s Office and on the day of employee of the Prosecutor’s Office, an international high-level conference “Independence and impartiality of prosecutors in the context of prosecution of crimes committed by public officials: corruption and money laundering” was launched in Dilijan on July 1, 2025.

The conference was held in the scope of the joint programs of the European Union and the Council of Europe. 

Nikol Pashinyan, RA Prime Minister, Anna Vardapetyan, RA Prosecutor General, the leaders of the executive and judicial branches, Maxime Longangué, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Lilit Daneghyan, Deputy head of Cooperation programs Division, Department for Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standards, DGI, Council of Europe,  Tomislav Sertic, Head of Unit with the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division, Economic Crime and Corruption Department, Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law, DGI, Council of Europe, the leaders of the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Armenia, prosecutors, Nida Grunskienė, Prosecutor General of Lithuania, Victoria Buttigieg, Prosecutor General of Malta, Jana Zezulová, Former President of the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE), Council of Europe expert, delegations from the Prosecutor’s Offices of Austria, Greece, Poland, Czech Republic and European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) as well as heads of diplomatic missions accredited to the Republic of Armenia participated in the Conference.

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia congratulated on the occasion of the day of employee of the Prosecutor’s Office and thanked the prosecutors for their work. According to the Head of the country the law enforcement system has an essential role in maintaining peace and/or security, including internal and external, justice, freedom and prosperity. In this context Nikol Pashinyan noted that the corruption is one of the main problems, which creates problems in any reality in several directions. “The government's policy is to demonstrate zero tolerance towards corruption and corrupt practices, and we continue to be consistent on that path”, mentioned the Prime Minister, highlighting that it is important not only to identify and eliminate the consequences of corruption, but also to objectively identify the causes of the corruption.  

Summarizing his speech Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the prosecutors again and thanked all the employees of the RA Prosecutor’s Office for their work, “I am convinced and hope that they aim to provide a higher quality services to the public every day and that is a high-level service, the name of that service is fairness and justice. I am also convinced that Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia leads the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Armenia with that logic and that ideology.”

Anna Vardapetyan, Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, congratulated the prosecutors and employees of the Prosecutor’s Office on the professional holiday in her opening speech and addressing the prosecutors, mentioned “We are responsible not only for ourselves, but also for the people around us and for those who trust us. I wish you to fulfill your mission with a sense of duty, great responsibility, a straight back and a clear conscience”.

In her speech, Prosecutor General of the Republic, referring to the work carried out in the direction of confiscation of property of illicit origin, stated that about 150 statements of claims are pending at the Anti-Corruption Committee, about 1500 immovable properties, 290 movable properties, 400 shares in the legal persons and about AMD 540 billion are attached and the total cost of the claim amounted to AMD 600 billion. There are 9 settlement agreements and 1 judicial act, which has entered into a legal force. Pursuant to the judicial act, which has entered into legal force, the ownership right of the Republic of Armenia was registered over 1 apartment located at Vardanants Str., Yerevan city and 1 house located at Arinj community, Kotayk region. EUR 50 thousand 720 and AMD 878 thousand subject to confiscation were transferred to the Unified Account for Recovered Fund.

In the field of protection of the state and community interests, based on judicial acts rendered during 2024, property with the cadastral value of AMD 2 billion 785 million (about USD 7 million 69 million) approximated to the market value (the market values of the mentioned properties significantly exceed the cadastral values approximated to the market values) thereof was recovered. The ownership right of the Republic of Armenia or the communities was registered over 18 immovable properties with the cadastral values of about AMD 2 billion 785 million 511 thousand approximated to the market value thereof based on the claims submitted by the prosecutors during 2024.

During the first semester of 2025 the ownership right of the Republic of Armenia was recovered over 7 properties. The cadastral value approximated to the market value amounted to AMD 3 billion 365 million. During the first semester of 2025 the ownership right of the communities was recovered over 5 properties. The cadastral value approximated to the market value amounted to AMD 275 million.

 From December 5, 2024, until now   AMD 17.5 billion was transferred to the Unified Account for Recovered Fund.

Clare Ovey, DGI Director in her pre-recorded message stated the following “The prosecutors have complex and vitally important role. That is why the opportunities of experience exchange, such as this conference, are so important. The more this cooperation strengthens, the weaker the influence of the international organized crime on our continent become.”

The message of Vassilis Maragos, Ambassador, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, represented by Tomasz Ostropolski, Deputy Head of the Political, Media and Information Division of the EU Delegation to Armenia stated the following, “This high-level conference is an important platform for reflecting on priorities, results achieved and lessons learnt. The EU confirms its commitment to supporting national authorities in the fight against corruption and in strengthening the rule of law in Armenia through provision of project and policy support to key sector stakeholders. This will involve capacity building for judiciary, prosecutors, investigators and lawyers”.  

This was the third international conference jointly organized by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia, the Council of Europe, and the European Union, which aimed to highlight the importance of prosecutorial independence and impartiality especially in politically sensitive cases, including corruption and money laundering cases, discuss European standards and best practices of prosecution of the mentioned crimes, promote cooperation and experience exchange with member states and international partners to address current challenges and gaps in prosecutorial independence.

This conference was organized in the scope of the European Union and Council of Europe joint program Partnership for Good Governance, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, in the framework of the projects “Support to the Justice Reform in Armenia”, and “Enhancing National Capacities for Effective Prevention and Fight against Economic Crime in Armenia”.