YEREVAN. – It is apparent that politics and business interests are not sufficiently separated in countries like Armenia. 

Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Armenia Mission, Karen Hilliard, told the aforementioned to the RFE/RL Armenian Service.

As per Hilliard, another level of corruption is “administrative corruption,” which is encountered by ordinary Armenians during their contacts with various state bodies, and it is well known that combating the first type of corruption is very difficult in numerous countries.

To the query on how effectively the Armenian government will fight against corruption, the USAID official responded that Armenia needs progress toward a climate that will decouple politics and business, and concrete steps should be taken.

“If the government doesn’t set up an anti-corruption commission, then what is the alternative?” asked Hilliard. “If the alternative is doing nothing, it won’t lead Armenia anywhere. Therefore, what I’m going to do is the following: to take a risk by investing in this anti-corruption commission.

“If there are results, I’ll continue to invest.”