UN Secretary-General António Guterres said there are no sufficient grounds to conclude that corruption was involved in organizing COP17. He made the remarks at a press conference ahead of COP17, responding to a question about concerns raised in Armenia’s National Assembly over possible misuse of the summit budget and related corruption risks.
Earlier, opposition lawmakers had warned of serious corruption risks, while Armenia’s deputy minister of AGMA said procurement had been carried out strictly under UN standards. Guterres noted that he has attended many COP summits and said he had received far more expensive and lavish items in the past than this year’s summit badge.
“I have received more expensive, more lavish things than this badge,” he said, addressing that strand of criticism as well.
Environment Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan said the authorities had reviewed organizational practices in many countries and that, in his assessment, Armenia’s procurement process has been arranged with a very high level of transparency. According to him, that same transparency has drawn complaints from some institutions and partners because it slows the procurement system.
The minister added that within a very short timeframe the government had tried to do everything necessary to ensure that Yerevan could properly host international guests, heads of state and tens of thousands of participants arriving in Armenia for COP17.
