Published since 07.2002
Published on July 04, 2008
STATED TASK: GOVERNMENT SHOWS WILL TO MAKE CUSTOMS SERVICE TRANSPARENT BODY
- For the last two months the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Armenia has been the focus of government efforts to fight corruption. Many Armenian residents say they have already seen the positive changes in structure which is believed to be one of the most corrupted in the country, while others are still skeptical that the lawful manner of work will continue. The government that chose reforms of the tax and customs bodies as the main directions of its activities is paying “centered attention” to all this. “Our country has no sources for solving social problems apart from collections made by tax and customs bodies. So, we have to take the path of self-purification,” Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan emphasized during his first meeting with SCC. The SCC, where according to President Serzh Sargsyan, “corruption is thriving”, embarked on the “path of self-purification” immediately. The changes were so unexpected and swift that the business world and ordinary people were surprised and at the same time skeptical that all that was only a temporary measure. Karapet Alexanyan is one of those who felt for himself the positive changes made at the custom service. Alexanyan purchased a car from the United States a few months ago and in early June it reached the border of the Republic of Armenia. “Knowing how everything is handled in Armenia, I was worried. I had heard different prices of customs clearance from different people and was a little worried. People said that the customs clearance of the car I had purchased was quite expensive, 1.5 times higher than I actually paid for it eventually,” Alexanyan says. “Still, I had absolutely no problems with customs clearance. I had heard that the reason was that everything has been legalized now. Perhaps that was the reason for low prices. They say now you pay only the sum that is required from you, without bribes,” Alexanyan adds. Unlike Alexanyan, David Allahverdyan was not lucky, as he had imported his car before the reform: “In February I imported a Volkswagen model 2000 and cleared it at the customs for $4,525. And my friend brought a car with the same parameters in May and paid $2,800 for clearance, i.e. $1,700 less. It means that I had given $1,700 not to the state.” To feel less deceived Allahverdyan is going to import another car. “While there is law and order, I’ll go and bring a car at a low price, otherwise, I don’t know how long this will last,” he says. As part of the reform, the SCC introduced several novelties. Among them is the posting on the SCC website of a list of fixed prices for a number of commodity types, an option of filling in customs declarations by the importer/exporter themselves, etc. These points were envisaged by the legislation still from 2001, but were not applied in practice. The changes are evaluated as positive also by representatives of the business world, who emphasize, however, that there is still much to be changed. Kia Motors Armenia CJSC deputy director Ararat Mardoyan says that for them as for large importers these changes have not proved efficient yet. “The reforms in reality solved only technical issues,” Mardoyan says. “For example, you can fill in the papers more quickly and things like this, but nothing more. This all has helped more individuals.” “They still have to do a lot of work in connection with the formation of the customs value, many subtleties are not worked out yet, for example how they decide customs prices, who decides those prices, etc. We are an official representative of Kia Motors in Armenia, but even we are not allowed to make an invoice customs clearance, that is, we and individuals pay the same price in the case when we buy at a lower price from the plant in case of larger quantities.” Mardoyan considers a high percentage rate of customs clearance a “nonsense”: “They have high percentage rates of import in countries where there is domestic car production in order to promote the sales of the domestic producer.” “In this case, it hits the consumer as 30 percent is a very high percentage. For example, an SUV of a medium category can be purchased in Armenia for $25-27,000, and in Dubai it can be purchased for $12-15,000, yet in Dubai residents earn three times as much. As an importer, we still bring and sell. Eventually, it is consumers who find themselves on the receiving end, since the higher the percentage rate is the higher the selling price is,” Mardoyan explains. In the first half of 2008 20,000 cars were imported to Armenia, by 4,000 more than in the same period of the last year.
- Sara Khojoyan
Headlines for July 04, 2008
UP AND ABOUT: OPPOSITION REACHES GYUMRI FOR ITS FIRST ‘AUTHORIZED’ RALLY AFTER POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE
Ani Hakobyan
Thousands of Levon Ter-Petrosyan supporters braved rainy weather and government-imposed “working day” conditions to stage a rally in Armenia’s second largest city last weekend in what proved to be the ...TIPTOEING THE TURKISH TIGHTROPE: SARGSYAN SEES MIXED REACTION AT HOME AFTER MOSCOW STATEMENTS
Aris Ghazinyan
President Serzh Sargsyan’s statements on Armenia’s relations with Turkey made while on a recent official visit to Russia elicited a negative reaction from the opposition and at least one pro-government ...POLITICAL INTRIGUE: IS ARMENIA ON THE AGENDA FOR VISIT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO TURKEY?
Aris Ghazinyan
The situation in the South Caucasus is on the agenda of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov when he begins a visit to Turkey on Wednesday, official sources confirmed. According to unofficial reports, ...SPORT: ALL EYES ON SPAIN AS ARMENIA PREPARES FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH EUROPE’S BEST
Suren Musayelyan
Football Armenia will be tested by another reigning champion in the forthcoming World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. This became clear after Spain managed to pull off the European title by beating the ...CLEANING HOUSE?: PRIME MINISTER INTENT ON SWEEPING OUT CORRUPTION
Arpi Harutyunyan
The first three months Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan’s leadership have seen the former Central Bank chairman emerge as a new voice against Armenia’s old problem of corruption. Amid praise from the progressively ...AIR APPARENT?: PACE DECISION NO GUARANTEE FOR A1PLUS
Gayane Mkrtchyan
Point 6 of the original text of PACE Resolution 1620 on Armenia adopted in Strasbourg last week concerned A1 plus television and according to it, the Armenian authorities must immediately provide a broadcasting ...TARGET OF CONVENIENCE: ANTI-SEMITISM ON INCREASE AS PROVOCATION AGAINST TER-PETROSYAN
Vahan Ishkhanyan
Rimma Varzhapetyan, chairwoman of the Jewish Community of Armenia, says there is no anti-Semitism in Armenia as such, however, sometimes anti-Semitic materials appear in the press and their number has ...STATED TASK: GOVERNMENT SHOWS WILL TO MAKE CUSTOMS SERVICE TRANSPARENT BODY
Sara KhojoyanFor the last two months the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Armenia has been the focus of government efforts to fight corruption. Many Armenian residents say they have already seen the positive changes ...CHILDBIRTH IN ARMENIA: PROMOTE POPULATION, IMPOVERISH FAMILIES
Naira Bulghadaryan
To promote childbirth and encourage large families the Armenian government has increased the one-time amount paid to families for the birth of a child. Since 2007 for each child families get for 100,000 ...PUPPET SHOW: A GROUP OF ENTHUSIASTS KEEP IDEA ALIVE WITHOUT A THEATRE
Armine Avagyan
The southern Armenian town of Kapan has a puppet troupe, but its fate is in limbo. The seven-member puppeteers perform only occasionally by invitation. They have no and no support. Nine years ago Vahe ...DIPLOMATIC RUMBLINGS: MOVEMENTS IN RELATIONS SEEN AS REGIONAL POWERS BECOME MORE ACTIVE
Aris Ghazinyan
The past week was marked by a sharp activation of some regional processes in the South Caucasus, in particular along the axes Yerevan-Moscow, Yerevan-Ankara, Baku-Moscow, Baku-Ankara and Moscow-Ankara. ...POLITICIANS ABOUT PROTECTION: KARABAKH EXPERTS SHARE THEIR OPINION ON THE ISSUE OF NKR SECURITY
Naira Hayrumyan
Security of the Armenian population is a key issue in the Karabakh conflict settlement. In February of 1988 Armenians of the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh (ARNK) declared their will to become ...AZERIS TO ADD DRONES TO THEIR MILITARY ARSENAL
Internet has carried headlines from Baku and Yerevan on the latest in military buildup . . . “Azeris May Buy Drones From Israel” “Azerbaijan to Buy UAVs to Watch Over Occupied Areas” “Armenia Takes ...ACCUSATIONS CONTINUE: TER-PETROSYAN DOCUMENT SAYS OPPOSITION WAS METHODICALLY PERSECUTED
Marianna Grigoryan
Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan this week turned up the heat in the country’s continuously volatile internal political situation as he published a document that he described as ‘diabolic’. The ...ON THE MOVE: TER-PETROSYAN-LED OPPOSITION ANNOUNCES LENGTHY SIT-IN BEFORE ITS NEXT RALLY
Gayane Abrahamyan
Armenia’s opposition on Friday signaled the start of a 28-day sit-in of about 50 of its supporters in Northern Avenue as a heavy cordon of police and water cannons was raised to surround the nearby Opera ...
Most read news (last 7 days)
‘URGENT DEBATE’: STRASBOURG SAYS DISCUSSION ‘WARRANTED’
Gayane AbrahamyanFREEDOM HOUSE: ARMENIA’S YEAR-ON-YEAR ‘DEMOCRACY SCORE’ UNCHANGED, BUT ON THE DECLINE SINCE 1999
Suren Musayelyan
POLITICAL INTRIGUE: IS ARMENIA ON THE AGENDA FOR VISIT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO TURKEY?
Aris GhazinyanTIPTOEING THE TURKISH TIGHTROPE: SARGSYAN SEES MIXED REACTION AT HOME AFTER MOSCOW STATEMENTS
Aris GhazinyanPOSTPONED: PACE GIVES ARMENIA TIME UNTIL JANUARY TO COMPLY WITH ITS DEMANDS
Gayane AbrahamyanUP AND ABOUT: OPPOSITION REACHES GYUMRI FOR ITS FIRST ‘AUTHORIZED’ RALLY AFTER POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE
Ani HakobyanAZERIS TO ADD DRONES TO THEIR MILITARY ARSENAL
CLEANING HOUSE?: PRIME MINISTER INTENT ON SWEEPING OUT CORRUPTION
Arpi HarutyunyanSPORT: ALL EYES ON SPAIN AS ARMENIA PREPARES FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH EUROPE’S BEST
Suren MusayelyanAIR APPARENT?: PACE DECISION NO GUARANTEE FOR A1PLUS
Gayane Mkrtchyan
© AUA
Today in Armenian history- 1762 The first publication of Yeznik Koghbatsi's "Yeghts Aghandots" by the Markos Publishing House, in Smyrna.
- 1818 The inhabitants of Zeytoon (Western Armenia) rebel against the exactions of the Pasha of Marash.
- 1823 Birth of Grigor Aghatonyan in Constantinople. He died in 1868.
- 1839 Death of Papa Hambardzoomian, composer and author of Armenian phonographs.
- 1847 Death of Hakob Chelepi Tyoozian, the imperial goldsmith. The "Europe" periodical was published by his initiative. He was born on 1793 01 03.
- 1902 International Meeting of Patriots takes place in Brussels. French public-political figure Jean Jaures (amongst others) devotes his speech to the Armenian Cause.
- 1902 An International Conference on the Armenian Question takes place in Brussels.
- 1908 Death of Armenian writer Missak Metsarents. He was born in 1886.
- 1930 Birth of Mher Mkrtchyan (actor). He died in 1993.
- 1992 Artsakh forces leave Martakert (Artsakh).
Forum most active discussions
ARMENIAN NEWS
INTERACTIVE NEWS
INFORMATION
MY ARMTOWN
How to quit smoking?
How to write in Armenian on Windows XP?
All materials published on this website are taken from open sources and are copyrighted by their respective owners. You cannot reproduce or copy any materials published on armtown.com without written consent of original copyright holder. If you want to remove any material, please send us an email with proof of ownership/copyright and your material will be removed immediately. All materials published for information purposes only.