YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The summing up seminar "Polish Experience in Anti-Corruption Struggle" was held in Yerevan, on December 12. This was organized within the framework of the program "No to Corruption: Civil Control by Local Self-Government Bodies" financed by the Embassies of the Great Britain to Poland and Armenia. According to Gevorg Yeghiazarian, the head of the Ashtarak Mayor's Office staff, the Armenian delegation was in Warsaw on November 14-25 where it, particularly, studied the Polish experience of local self-government bodies. He mentioned that transparency, intolerance towards corruption, responsibility, professionalism and other principles are in the basis of the Polish model of anti-corruption struggle. And, according to G.Yeghiazarian, the most part of communities of Armenia hasn't either internet site or possibility to make use of Internet. Besides, for implementation of an anti-corruption program in Armenia, according to him, citizens aren't enough active and officials haven't enough political will. Grisha Khachatrian, the Chairman of the "Center for Information Systems Development and Study" NGO informed that an information system was worked out and initiated at the Charentsavan Mayor's Office, by the example of the Poland model. He mentioned that nothing happened at once in Poland either: the model was worked out and implemented step by step. For active participation in the anti-corruption stryggle, Hayk Gevorgian, a correspondent of the "Haykakan Zhamanak" (Armenian Time) daily, was given the 2005 award of the "Transparency International Armenia" organization. Amalia Kostanian, the Chairwoman of the organization mentioned that this is the second year that the prize is given to a mass media representative: in 2004 the prize was given to the "Investigating Journalists" organization.

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