Friday, 17 July 2020
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Board Agreed that Armenia has Made Satisfactory Progress in Implementing the 2016 EITI Standard
The EITI Board, as a result of 1st validation assessment of Armenia agreed on following decision:
“Following the conclusion of Armenia’s Validation, the EITI Board agrees that Armenia has made satisfactory progress overall in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. The Board commends the Government of Armenia and the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) for the exemplary progress in implementing the EITI Standard and for the country’s efforts to expand the scope of EITI reporting to issues of national concern.”
In that regard, Helen Clark, the EITI Board Chair said: “I would like to congratulate the Government of Armenia and all EITI stakeholders for achieving satisfactory progress on implementing the EITI Standard. On behalf of the Board, I encourage the country to continue along the path of reform and to maintain progress towards the systematic disclosure of mining information.”
In the article published by the EITI International Secretariat Armenia is described as a country “on a fast track to greater transparency”. The article also quotes Tigran Avinyan, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia and MSG Chair: “The Government of Armenia is fully committed to implementing the good governance principles required by EITI, which are key for ensuring mining sector reform. In relation to this, the Multi-stakeholder Group will work to maintain what has already been achieved in Armenia, while also focusing on increasing EITI impact, building on systematic disclosures and integrating the issues of public concern into the MSG’s national agenda.”
The Board also notes that the EITI process is robustly embedded in the broader transparency and reform agenda of the mining sector in Armenia. Moreover, the EITI has helped to contribute to a new culture of dialogue in the country by encouraging cooperation between different constituencies and providing input to mining sector reforms.
At the same time, the Board recognizes that the broader environment for EITI implementation remains challenging due to opposition to mining, related to the sector’s potential environmental and social impacts.
The Board has determined that Armenia will be re-Validated in three years, i.e. on 9 July 2023.
According to the requirement 8.3.b of the 2016 EITI Standard where Validation verifies that a country has made satisfactory progress on all of the requirements, the EITI Board will designate that country as EITI compliant. According to the Validation assessment Armenia recorded Satisfactory progress on 20 requirements and Beyond Satisfactory progress on 4 requirements.
Thus, as of July 9, 2020 Armenia is the 9th country among the 53 EITI member countries to be granted the status of a country with satisfactory progress.
