Iraqi-Russian Anti-Corruption Agreement
By John Lee.
Iraq's Federal Integrity Commission and Russia's Prosecutor General's Office have begun implementing their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on anti-corruption cooperation, focusing on asset recovery and international legal assistance.
During a meeting with a Russian delegation, Dr. Mohammed Ali Al-Lami, Head of the Integrity Commission, emphasized the need to modernize anti-corruption mechanisms to counter evolving methods of financial misconduct. He also called on signatories of the UN Convention Against Corruption to fulfill their commitments on legal cooperation, asset recovery, and extradition, highlighting banking secrecy and legal system differences as key challenges.
Discussions covered judicial investigations, evidence sharing, and financial transparency, while Russian experts stressed the importance of bilateral and multilateral partnerships to coordinate efforts at international forums. Both sides explored the twinning of Iraq's Anti-Corruption Academy with Russia's Prosecutor General's University to facilitate training, research, and academic exchanges.
Workshops also addressed national coordination committees for anti-corruption enforcement and joint legal measures to track and recover illicit funds.
Iraq ranks joint 140th out of 180 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) , while Russia ranks joint 154th.
(Source: Federal Integrity Commission)
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