News and press releases

On 4 and 5 July, the OSCE facilitated a training course to enhance the knowledge and skills of criminal justice practitioners from Moldova on investigative techniques in corruption cases. The training course was jointly delivered by practitioners from Guardia di Finanza – Italy’s economic and financial police, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of Moldova, and the Romanian National Anti-Corruption Directorate, allowing participants to learn about different models, legal bases and mechanisms in investigating corruption. Special focus was put on Guardia di Finanza’s “follow-the-money” approach, which traces the movement of funds to determine the source and destination of potentially illicit funds.

From June 18 to 20, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities organized a workshop titled "Navigating the Virtual Asset Landscape" in Warsaw, Poland. The workshop, which was hosted by the Ministry of Finance of Poland, targeted Ukrainian supervisory

Cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets can present a wide range of risks, including but not limited to money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud. To strengthen Armenia’s crypto-related crime investigation capacities, the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA), in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), gathered 23 representatives from the public sector in Yerevan from 12 to 14 June for a targeted training session to foster their expertise in this area.

A regional conference on “Effective strategies for recovering stolen assets; management and disposal of seized, confiscated and returned assets and current issues related to crypto assets in the context of asset recovery” took place in Tashkent on 20-21 May. The event convened delegations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the host country, Uzbekistan, and was co-hosted by the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities Economic Governance Unit (OCEEA/EGU), the Transnational Threats Department Strategic Police Matters Unit (TNTD/SPMU) and the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia.

On 29-30 May, 2024, the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, in collaboration with the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), conducted a training seminar in Almaty. The seminar focused on combating money laundering arising from tax crimes, entrepreneurial activities, and public procurement offenses. This initiative is part of a broader, multi-year co-operation aimed at strengthening Kazakhstan’s capacity to counter money laundering and terrorist financing.

From 21 to 24 May, the OSCE Secretariat, in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, held the South-Eastern Europe Youth Dialogue Forum on Youth Crime Prevention in Durrës, Albania. The Forum gathered around 20 young people from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia to build confidence and trust among youth in the region.

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek supported the development of a methodological guide titled "Organization of Activities of a Municipal Enterprise" as part of its efforts in advancing regional development in the Kyrgyz Republic. This initiative was made possible through collaboration with the State Agency for Public Service and Local Self-Governance Affairs (SAPS-LSGA).