The World Bank Responds
Following on from previous posts here, here, and here, my email to the World Bank’s Yerevan office and it’s oversight body in Washington regarding allegations of corruption made by a British national, Bruce Tasker, has now been answered. A few minutes ago I received an email from the World Bank’s local External Affairs Officer, Vigen Sargsyan, and reproduce it below.
Thank you for your communication conveying allegations made by Mr. Bruce Tasker concerning World Bank supported activities in Armenia.
As you may be aware, Mr. Tasker’s preliminary findings regarding the Municipal Development Project were included in the interim report of an ad hoc commission of the Armenian parliament in March, 2004. These were carefully reviewed and discussed at the time, as the Bank takes quite seriously any suggestion of improprieties in activities which it supports. In this case, there were numerous errors or misunderstandings, and we understand these were corrected in the final report issued by the Commission.
Mr. Tasker’s more recent allegations concerning blacklisting have no basis. The World Bank does have in place a very serious process which can lead to a formal blacklisting of firms. However, Mr. Tasker is not now, nor has ever been blacklisted, and it is unfortunate that he uses such suggestions to explain any difficulty he may experience in competing successfully on an open level playing field with others in procurement processes under World Bank-financed projects.
Finally, Mr. Tasker has previously communicated with the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) regarding his concerns and I see that you have already addressed the post to INT. Please let us know if you need any assistance in transmitting materials to INT; they can be placed in a sealed envelope and will be sent unopened through our diplomatic pouch directly to them. Meanwhile, we will also forward a copy of our communications with you to INT.
Meanwhile, in addition to Hetq Online finally covering the story, Garo (aka Christian Garbis) at Notes from Hairenik has now posted an entry on Tasker’s allegations. In particular, he hits out at Armenian-Revolutionary Federation-Dashnakstutyun and specifically Deputy Speaker of Parliament Vahan Hovannisian who appointed Tasker to lead a team of specialists reporting to a parliamentary commission in 2004.
So there you have it—finally a revelation that one these international organizations that are supposed to be widely regarded as international do-gooders, especially in impoverished countries throughout Africa, is in fact behind the scenes up to no good. I am sure that this gentleman is going to have a hard time personally and professionally for his bravery, as the World Bank has apparently “blacklisted” him. The citizens of Armenia should be very thankful to him for his efforts (although many of them don’t know what he did and probably don’t care anyway, but that’s between you and me).
[…]
What this means is that the internationally coveted Socialist International member Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun—the same organization for which I have worked tirelessly in the past and for its party program I have proudly sweated—could perhaps be perceived as being indirectly or directly (depending on the personal view) involved. Vahan Hovannisian was jailed in the mid-1990s by then President Levon Ter-Pedrossian along with several other party members; he is the same person who I applauded for preserving his dignity while he was rotting in a jail cell as a political prisoner after being arrested for what would become revealed as being trumped-up charges. But you have to wonder whether he received a kickback to shut up about the whole thing. I mean, it makes no sense that he would not reveal the findings of the commission to the Armenian public. To suppose that he simply never got around to presenting the study’s findings or that the study was deemed unworthy by the commission is naive thinking.
[…]I live in Central Yerevan and my building receives running water from about 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, but sometimes the water is shut off an hour early or for several hours during the day. Water was supposed to have been provided 24 hours a day by now. Supposedly in areas of Arabkir that is the case, but I know for a fact that some residents of the “Raikom” neighborhood for instance only receive water for two hours in the morning and two in the evening. Perhaps when the chaotic mess along Gomidas Avenue finally comes to an end, as they are supposedly changing the water pipes up there, the water shortage problem will no longer exist. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Although I’m not going to take Tasker’s allegations as gospel, one thing’s for sure. It is up to the World Bank to openly investigate and respond to the claims made in order to confirm or deny the serious accusations made against them. Any organization should do this and so it’s interesting to note that the World Bank, which lectures countries on the need for transparency and accountability, has not.
That is the crux of the matter. If there is nothing to hide, Tasker’s request for an immediate investigation by the organization’s own internal watchdog should have been accepted and a team to look into the matter dispatched to Yerevan. To be honest, I think that would be pretty much general practice for any organization and not least the World Bank which otherwise says it takes the problem of corruption very seriously indeed.
Tasker’s Blog, Blowing the World Bank Whistle, is here.
Wow, 7am-11pm. That’s 16 hours water a day. I get about 7 hours split between morning and evening.
Comment by Onnik — August 9, 2007 @ 3:28 pm
Hello Onnik,
It is nice to see that you have eventually been able to squeeze a response from Vigen Sargsyan at the World Bank Armenia Country Office.
With respect to his comments about ‘Blacklisting’; of course the Bank does not have an official list for whistleblowers. But the Bank has a great deal of influence in any developing country, and the evidence I have gathered over a period of nearly two years that clearly shows the Bank has used its influence to block my activities in Armenia. They do however have a Blacklist for corrupt consultants, and although Walkling should have long been on that list he continues to work as a consultant for World Bank financed projects, including implementing a water project I wrote, piloted and had approved by the Armenian Government, knowing that he has been involved in corruption.
With respect to Vigen Sargsyan’s proposal to assist with sending material to the INT. The submission to INT has already been done, with the support of Washington’s most influential human rights and freedom of speech organizations, the Government Accountability Project (GAP), who’s lawyers studied dozens of documents before formally supporting the action. The Demand Letter is a document of 62 pages, which the INT has yet to respond to.
There is additional documentation which clearly show that the Bank has blocked my activities, that is to say, I have been ‘Blacklisted’ by the World Bank, although as Vigen quite rightly points out, not officially.
Mr. Sargsyan however does not comment on the most important matter, that Mr. Walkling, the authorized Representative of A. Utilities, and concurrently, General Director of the Yerevan Water & Sewerage Company, was involved in wide-range corruption and in a ploy to embezzle tens of millions of dollars of Armenian public funds. That is the problem my application to the World Bank’s INT intends to have exposed and rectified. So that the Bank recognises the irresponsible approach it has had to projects in Armenia, and hopefully it will make an effort to improve the situation.
I really do not expect a positive response from the INT, despite very comprehensive documented evidence, plus the highest level of support to my action, from GAP and from the British Government. The INT is actually well known for parrying claims of wrongdoings within Bank projects and it has been known to cause problems for those who report fraud and corruption, generally known as ‘Whistleblowers’, one of which I have become through this action.
But who knows, with enough pressure, and let us hope it keeps mounting, we may be able to have this serious problem fully exposed. All the details (including documents) will shortly become available through my Blog.
Bruce Tasker
Comment by Bruce Tasker — August 9, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
Given that I’m well aware how corruption, nepotism and connections plays the only role in any expat or Diasporan landing work in Armenia, I have to admit that I find it unlikely that there is a “open level playing field” anywhere in Armenia let alone in lucrative World Bank projects. Besides, I’ve heard from one IT company director how the whole tender process is anything but fair and transparent in practice. Go to any restaurant or cafe in Yerevan on a summer night and see well to-do-locals, foreigners and Diasporans hang out with each other. Dig a little deeper and discover that relationships extend far beyond the social.
In terms of connections — and this applies especially to the Diaspora “doing business” in Armenia as well — as everyone knows, if you want to find a decent job in Armenia you pretty much need to be part of what I consider to be the [usually corrupt] “in-crowd” and have to have sycophancy perfected as second nature. Unfortunately, it would appear as though the “clan mentality” in Armenia is contagious which is why international organizations usually have it as policy to change their country representatives and foreign members of staff on a two-yearly basis. If they don’t, then believe me they should.
Even then, diplomatic workers at Embassies or the heads of various organizations strike up relationships with locals or Diasporans in the country and soon learn to work the “Armenian way.” Speak out about that system, or don’t play by the rules set by your possible “benefactors” or potential “peers,” and you’re ostracized and even subjected to attempts to discredit your name. Take it any further and you’re really in trouble.
For example, the former Residential Representative of the United Nations in Armenia, Lise Grande, fought against internal corruption within UNDP that involved kickbacks to various officials, but rather than investigate her claims, she was instead subjected to harassment and victimization from local as well as foreign UN staff that saw her spend much of the last year of her tenure out of the country. In the end, faced with hostility from her superiors in New York, she instead chose to personally close down various projects in order to stop the corruption before she left and to purge her department of the staff members involved.
Regardless, and even if taking the World Bank at its word, the main issue at hand has still not been addressed. That is, with Tasker’s claims supported by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and the British Embassy in Yerevan, with the situation being monitored by the British Government’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO), why hasn’t the World Bank sent a team to Armenia to investigate the claims in an open and transparent manner? In most countries this would be what would happen next, and actually, given the seriousness of the claims, it would very likely call for an independent investigation.
Tasker, however, alleges that the World Bank hopes that it will all blow over and be forgotten. I can’t say that the World Bank’s response gives me grounds to consider otherwise.
Comment by Onnik — August 9, 2007 @ 9:52 pm
Incidentally, the World Bank’s response came after Global Voices posted an entry saying they had not which also made it out through Google’s Armenia Alerts. I can’t say for sure that this is the case, but the timing looks more than coincidental.
Comment by Onnik — August 9, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
Still, at least international monetary organizations continue to follow Tasker’s claims:
Following on from accesses from two other IP addresses in the World Bank, another one has also now popped up so at least they’re not ignoring Tasker’s accusations, I suppose.
Comment by Onnik — August 9, 2007 @ 11:25 pm
Nazarian has now also made a post about the accusations against the World Bank:
One guesses that for its own sake the World Bank should launch an immediate, objective and transparent investigation. I’d also like to know where CRD/Transparency International Armenia is in all of this. Rather than wait until the World Bank launches an investigation as it has told Tasker it will do, it should be spearheading calls for an immediate inquiry or launching its own.
Unfortunately, with international donors providing nearly all of the money available for civil society, don’t expect the latter to be able to monitor and keep in check the former. For example, as almost everybody working with the UN in Armenia knows of Lise Grande’s experience, where are the same organizations who decry government corruption when it comes to this case?
As Tasker says, the World Bank might not have an official blacklist, but for sure, they’re not going to fund anyone who raises questions about their operations in Armenia. They’re also not likely to take too kindly to any organization they have contacts with employing a “whistle blower.” Sad, but an unfortunate reality of the situation in the country.
However, my take is that accountability and transparency should apply to everybody from international organizations through civil society to the government.
There can be no genuine fight against corruption without such an approach. Diplomatic missions as well as international organizations should implement fully transparent procedures for monitoring the activities of their local employees and foreign representatives especially when it comes to contracts being awarded to their friends and/or relatives.
I can state quite categorically that this is the system which exists in Armenia. The same is true for Diasporan organizations or Diasporan workers in international organizations who very definitely breach standard practices and ethics almost constantly. It’s hard to know whether they understand this is actually corruption or whether they just naturally fall into this style of working, however.
Nevertheless, this is how things are done here in Armenia and they shouldn’t be.
Comment by Onnik — August 9, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
Global Voices has even translated the link to this post into Hindi. Great to see this happening there — extending the audience of blogs in one language to an audience who speak another even if it’s obviously not possible as yet to translate the post itself. Still attention is being drawn to posts from other parts of the world and the conversation indeed becomes global.
Comment by Onnik — August 10, 2007 @ 2:10 am
The Whistle Blower Responds
Following on from the World Bank’s response to Bruce Tasker’s allegations of corruption in its Municipal Development Project, the British national has since responded to talk of there being a “level playing ground” during the e…
Trackback by Oneworld Multimedia — August 10, 2007 @ 2:33 am
http://www.whistleblower.org/template/index.cfm
Comment by Bruce Tasker — August 18, 2007 @ 4:16 pm
World Bank Integrity in Armenia Questioned
Following on from reports by British national Bruce Tasker that the World Bank is guilty of turning a blind eye to allegations of fraud and corruption in its Municipal Development Project in Armenia, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) has mad…
Trackback by Oneworld Multimedia — September 7, 2007 @ 2:49 am
World Bank Puts Armenian Case on Hold
After first being covered in the blogosphere, Bruce Tasker’s allegations of corruption in a World Bank project in Armenia have now hit international headlines with the U.K.’s The Observer carrying a story today. Interestingly, Tasker appro…
Trackback by Oneworld Multimedia — September 30, 2007 @ 10:50 pm