On October 21, the two-day workshop “Using Beneficial Ownership Data in Armenia” was launched, which gathered around twenty journalists and representatives of CSOs to learn how to use BO data.

Ms. Shushan Doydoyan, the president of the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia, spoke about the reform of BO transparency in Armenia and the role of CSOs in it.
“This reform would not have happened in Armenia if there was no support of the civil society in this process. The process would have failed if there was no active engagement and support of the civil society,” said Ms. Doydoyan.

Ms. Lala Nersesyan, Head of the State Registry of the Ministry of Justice of RA, presented the experience of Armenia in ensuring the transparency of real owners.

The workshop was organized by the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia with the support of Open Ownership and EITI.

During the workshop, an overview of beneficial ownership transparency in Armenia, Armenia’s business register, and company declarations will be presented, the global impact of the reform in the world will be discussed and specific case studies will be presented where BO data (and other sources) have been used to reveal the secret ownership chain of companies.

The goal of the two-day workshop is to raise awareness among local stakeholders about the importance of available and updated BO data, define the concept of BO, and train journalists and CSO representatives in using BO data for investigation.