The specter of corruption is a bugaboo that Armenia can’t seem to shake.

In a Transparency International report,  People and Corruption: Europe and Central Asia, published yesterday, more than 35% of Armenian citizens questioned responded that “corruption/bribery was one of the three biggest problems that its government should address.

While successive Armenian governments have promised to deal with the problem and despite an Anti-Corruption Council being set up by former Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, almost two in three citizens (60%) believe that the government is not doing enough to tackle corruption.

1,527 citizens were sampled in a poll conducted by Transparency International’s Armenian affiliate, the Anti-Corruption Center (ACC), early this year as part of the Berlin-headquartered organization’s latest survey of corrupt practices in Europe and Central Asia.

As to the question “How corrupt are MPs”, 40% of Armenian respondents believed they were corrupt.

When asked “How many people paid a bribe”, 20% or more said that they had.

When asked “Is it socially acceptable for people to report a case of corruption”, fewer than 40% agreed that it was.

Armenia ranked 95th out of 168 countries that were evaluated in Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). Its ranking has barely changed over the past decade.

In the new Transparency International report, Armenia ranked negatively across the board, along with Moldova, Russia, Serbia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“These countries are marked by high perceptions of corruption among members of parliament, high bribery rates and a negative social environment for engaging in anti-corruption actions,” the report reads.

On November 11, during a meeting with ambassadors from EU countries in Yerevan, newly appointed Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan stated that without a comprehensive campaign against corruption and tax evaders, it would be impossible for Armenia to develop.  

Karapetyan said that his government would be presenting new specific legislative initiatives to combat corruption and that the composition of the anti-corruption council would be changed.