TRANSPARENT mining

Transparency International Anti-corruption Centre, Armenia is part of the first cohort of 20 Transparency International Chapters involved in TI’s global programme to improve transparency in the process of awarding mining permits.  

This global programme seeks to improve transparency and accountability in the extractive industries, focusing specifically on the very first link in the mining value chain: the decisions by government to grant mining or exploration permits and licenses and negotiate contracts. 

Transparency International Anti-corruption Centre, Armenia identified a number of corruption risks that compromise the fairness of the process of issuing mining rights, including:

• The lack of adequate procedures for assessing the environmental and social impacts of mining operations
• The fact that all companies engaged in mining and/or their affiliated industries, are registered offshore, making it difficult to identify the companies’ beneficial owners in a proper due diligence assessment 
• The influence mining companies can exert over policy decisions through donations to political parties.