YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The goal of the 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index for Armenia of the Transparency International organization isn't one to embarrass the RA authorities. This is said in a letter addressed to Bagrat Yesayan, a member of the Anti-Corruption Struggle Council, the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Monitoring Commission by Miklos Marschall, the Regional Director for Europe and Middle Asia. According to that letter, last week B.Yesayan stated that by estimating the index of Armenia with a score of 2.9 and rating it the 88th among 155 countries, the country was badly estimated what gives a reason for a serious concern. M.Marschall mentioned that those implementing reforms in governments of many countries of the world always greet TI index observing this as a powerful tool to raise awareness about corruption and its devastating impact. According to the TI representative, Corruption Perceptions Index doesn't depend on any political influence: this is based on independent surveys carried out by reputable organizations. Particularly, this year data of surveys held by the Freedom House, Merchant International Group, World Economic Forum and World Market Researches Center were used for deciding the Corruption Perceptions Index for Armenia. M.Marschall also assured in the letter that the Corruption Perceptions Index also contains results of surveys of past three years and dosn't reflect short-term change in perceptions of corruption. That's why it's of a little possibility that the Corruption Perceptions Index strictly changes in one-year term: the 2004 Corruption Perception Index for Armenia is 3.1. It was also mentioned that the TI welcomes any public discussion about the Corruption Perceptions Index but "it's a wrong answer to sweep the issue of corruption under the rug by trying to discredit our index."

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