Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Lithuania (STT) together with other Lithuanian institutions shared best practices on the recovery of criminal assets with representatives of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan – Mr Elmar Jamalov, Deputy Prosecutor General, Mr Vugar Aliyev, Head of Department for Coordination of Special Confiscation Issues, and other prosecutors. This is the first study visit of Azerbaijani law enforcement representatives to Lithuania within the framework of the European Union (EU) funded Twinning Project, which is implemented by the STT and other Lithuanian authorities. The project aims at supporting and contributing to the development institutional framework and setting up a fully operational asset recovery structure, including a specialised asset management office in Azerbaijan.
During the week-long visit to Lithuania (30 May – 3 June 2022), the Azerbaijani delegation gained experience in the STT, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Supreme Court of Lithuania, the Financial Crime Investigation Service, the State Tax Inspectorate, and the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau. During the meetings, attention was paid to analytical anti-corruption intelligence, financial investigation practices, application of the Lithuanian Law on Civil Confiscation of Property, prevention of money laundering, the role of the prosecutor in the system of asset recovery.
"We are pleased to be able to transfer the experience gained by Lithuania, which will be useful in creating the legal and institutional framework and establishing the Asset Recovery Unit of Azerbaijan. During the meetings, together with other Lithuanian institutions, we reviewed various mechanisms for tracing, freezing and subsequently confiscating property, as well as presented our electronic databases and declaration systems,” said Žydrūnas Bartkus, Director of STT and Head of the EU Twinning Project.
The EU-funded project will assist developing Azerbaijan's national asset recovery system, which will include the development of Asset Recovery Strategy and action plan, drafting of other necessary legislation. It is also planned to support a reform of reorganizing the Special Seizure Coordination Department of the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan into the fully-functional National Asset Recovery Office.
The duration of the project “Support to the reform of the criminal asset recovery and management system in Azerbaijan” (No. AZ 20 ENI JH 01 21) is 2 years. The project was launched in February this year.
