28. 7. 2016

The fight against corruption as one of the main pillars of the government’s programme is also substance of one programme realized by the Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance under Norway grants 2009-2014. The Programme CZ10 has been successfully realized since September 2014. “This Programme has not just fulfilled the donors’ expectations but in certain areas it has even exceeded them. For instance in the scope and intensity of the cooperation with the Project Partner the Council of Europe,” assessed the Programme the representative of donor institution Mr. Terje Bjørn Englund from the Norwegian Embassy in Prague.

The Programme has been divided into two pre-defined projects. These projects have been focused on strengthening of the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering system in Czech Republic
by development of papers assessing prepared legislative drafts, rising the institutional capacity
in public institutions and also by technical reinforcement of units combating corruption and money laundering.

“Above other realized activities within the Programme I would like to highlight the development
of analysis of whistle-blowers’ centre and the study on transparency of beneficial owners. Both
of these documents have a key role in discussion within preparation of amendments of both relevant laws,” said at the Final Conference the Head of Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance Mr. Libor Kazda. The Czech Republic can benefit from the results of the Programme even
on international level. The Ministry of Justice said that particular activities of the programme together with the wide scope of involved institutions have been already reflected in the latest follow-up reports for the OECD.

Michal Žurovec
Head of the Department for External Relations and Communications, Ministry of Finance

http://www.mfcr.cz/cs/aktualne/tiskove-zpravy/2016/program-boje-proti-korupci-predcil-oceka-25691

28.7.2016

“Corruption ultimately affects the entire economy and is one of the causes of demoralization of society. It is a problem for many public and private institutions, and hence we need to combat it decisively and in a coordinated manner.”

These were the words of Czech Deputy Minister of Finance for Tax and Duties Alena Schillerová, at the closing conference of a Norway Grants project devoted to strengthening the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering systems in the Czech Republic.

While the Czech Republic ranks 37th in Transparency International’s Global Corruption Perception Index in 2015, the government has taken on significant measures to counter corruption in the past years. Among those is a project supported by Norway, aiming at strengthening the country’s anti-corruption and anti-money laundering systems. This is being done by supporting the implementation of selected recommendations made by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against corruption (GRECO) and by purchasing special data-mining software that strengthens the government’s capacity to combat money-laundering.

The key focus of the part of the project which involves the Council of Europe (CoE) is to identify corruption and money laundering risks in the Czech Republic, develop policy and legislative proposals to improve criminal legislation on these matters, and deliver tailored training for law enforcement authorities on criminal investigations of corruption. This part of the project has now come to a close, with the concluding activities held in the end of June this year.

Working together

The close cooperation with the Council of Europe has made it easier for the project team to compare Czech anti-corruption measures with law enforcement in different European countries and participate in study visits abroad. Through cooperation, several workshops have taken place and multiple papers published on topics such as election campaign funding, whistle-blower protection, and conflict of interest.

“The Council of Europe has definitely brought added value to the project: in the organisation of workshops and seminars, quality assurance of papers and documents as well as providing a network of contacts, we have benefited from CoE involvement. The cooperation has also led to closer cooperation between us and the CoE outside of the project,” said Jana Ružarovská, International and Legal Department Officer and administrator of the project at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic:

“They not only help us with selecting the right experts – they also help us coordinate the work between national and international experts, assess the drafts of prepared papers and they also help us with the final control of the documents. Last but not least, the CoE provides important contacts, discusses all options with us for every event, offers us other solutions and listens and understands the issues we as Project Promoters are facing.”

Improving capacity

Involving the CoE has allowed the project team to develop high-quality proposals and training courses together with a group of international experts which they otherwise would have difficulties reaching. Through the project, around 800 people have received training on how to deal with corruption related matters. These include both individuals from public institutions dealing with anti-corruption matters such as the police, courts, public prosecutor’s offices and ministries, as well as persons and from academia, businesses and NGOs.

http://eeagrants.org/News/2016/Together-against-corruption

Prague, 13th April 2016

The Financial Analytical Unit of the Ministry of Finance assessed the Project on strengthened the anti-corruption and anti-money laundering system in Czech Republic on today`s conference. This project that is funded from Norway Grants 2009-2014 is based on mutual cooperation of the Ministry of Finance with other state authorities. Participants concentrated on the contribution of the Project to raise the effectivity of fight against financial crime and also on detection of current threats in this field.

“Consequently the corruption influences the whole economy and it is also one of the cause of society demoralization. The corruption is an issue for many public and also private institutions and that is why we need to proceed strongly and coordinated against it,” stated the deputy minister of finance for taxes and duties Mrs. Alena Schillerová.

Wide scope of professionals from state service, NGOs and academics concentrated within the Project on improvement of criminal law related to fight against corruption and money laundering, on transparency of funding of election campaigns or on protection of whistleblowers in CZ. Many workshops and 8 studies has been prepared within these topics.

One of the most important study is concentrated on transparency of beneficial owners. This study was an important source of information for initiative debates according to proposal of amendment of the AML and CFT act in CZ. This proposal of amendment is currently discussed in the Parliament. One of the top expert of the Council of Europe – Mrs. Anne Myers in cooperation with Transparency International CZ and the Office of the Government prepared an analysis on possibilities of functioning of whistleblowers centre in CZ under this Project as well. This analysis served as support in discussions on legal frame of protection of whistleblowers in CZ. Within the topic of improvement of criminal law the representatives of Financial Analytical Unit and the Unit for Combating Corruption and Financial Crime got important connections to their counterparts on their foreign study visits to western European countries and they use these contacts for tighter cooperation with them and for ex-change of information and also experiences within the fight against money laundering.

“I would like to thank all participating institutions cooperating on this Project. Particulary to the Ministry of Justice, the Office of Government, the Ministry of Interior and last but not least to the Unit for Combating Corruption and Financial Crime of the CZ Police” said Mr. Libor Kazda the Head of the Financial Analytical Unit. He also added, that “I really appreciate the employees of our Unit that organized and processed this wide scope of activities.” 

Kateřina Vaidišová
Department of External Relations and Communications
Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic