Armenia government seeks to revive traditional obsidian stone processing industry

ArmInfo. Armenian National Assembly passed amendments to the Law on State Tax on February 24.  The amendments look to reduce the annual state tax for operation of obsidian deposits tenfold - from 10 million drams to 100,000 drams.

Deputy Minister of Economy Emil Tarasyan says there are four obsidian deposits on the state balance of mineral deposits in Armenia: in the territory of Damlik and Arteni villages, not far from Artin Mountain and in Sevkar community. These deposits are not developed now. The Government's bill looks to boost the field of non-metallic mineral mining and suggests reducing the state tax on operation of obsidian deposits to 100,000 drams.

The Armenian stone obsidian has been used in the production souvenirs and building materials for over 20 years. However, only 3,500-5,000 tons of obsidian is used in the country annually due to high state tax.  Local companies face problems when trying to receive documents for operation of the obsidian deposits, as there are no legally registered and operated deposits in the country. Meantime, most of the products made of obsidian are exported ensuring revenues to the state budget.

Recently, the Economic Minister has held discussions involving representatives of the companies operating obsidian fields and admitted the need for reducing the state tax.