The Director of the National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC), Alexandr Pînzari, is participating, together with several heads of subdivisions of the NAC, in the 23rd EPAC/EACN Annual Professional Conference, which is currently taking place in Bucharest. The event, which brought together numerous anti-corruption services and experts from international organizations under the theme “Together for Integrity”, is an important platform for the exchange of experience and the stability of contacts between EPAC/EACN members.

The meeting, hosted this year by the Anticorruption General Directorate (DGA) of Romania, discussed topics of strategic importance for the platform countries, including recent developments in the prevention and fight against corruption, investigation and prosecution of corruption and fraud, preventing corruption and strengthening integrity in law enforcement, recovering criminal assets, implementing the anti-corruption agenda and building resilient anti-corruption frameworks for public institutions and the private sector.

On the side-lines of the event, the NAC representatives participated in several sessions on anti-corruption topics, as well as in a panel discussion on the challenges related to identifying and recovering criminal assets - a session moderated by experts from the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI), Romania, an institution similar to the NAC's Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA). During the discussions, the parties exchanged best practices in the field of identifying, tracking and managing illicit assets, as well as investigating crypto assets - an area that has become vulnerable in the context of the increasing use of virtual currency in illegal activities.

We would like to point out that EPAC (European Partners Against Corruption) includes over 90 anti-corruption authorities and police oversight bodies from the member countries of the Council of Europe, and EACN (European contact-point network against corruption) brings together over 60 anti-corruption institutions from the member states. The European Union, having a significant contribution to the joint efforts undertaken by the member states to reduce and stop the phenomenon of corruption. In 2023, EPAC/EACN was held in Dublin, Ireland, and in 2022 the works took place in Chisinau, being hosted by the National Anti-Corruption Centre (NAC).