Armen Alaverdyan: It will be very hard to combat shadow economy

ArmInfo. It will be very hard to combat shadow economy, Deputy Head of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia Armen Alaverdyan told reporters. 

In the meantime, he said that the Government has always fought against that phenomenon and that the anti- corruption measures are satisfactory.

"I think it is necessary to liquidate the reasons of corruption," he noted. As regards the monopolies on the Armenian market, he said that they emerged in the course of economic history of Armenia. "In the course of time, some entities acquired capital and connections both inside and outside the country and they have more favorable positions. No one bans sugar import, but there are no entities wishing to import sugar, because the sales market is complicated and importers can suffer financial losses," he said.  

On May 12, Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan spoke of the fight against corruption, obliging the law- enforcement departments engaged in the field to make regular reports on the process. In case of no progress, the human resources policy will be revised. He said the persons holding state positions and their relatives must not be allowed to participate in the state procurement and the program must be implemented on the government funds. He said all these measures are impossible unless there is sustainable and long-term economic growth that will allow creating new jobs and reducing social tension.  The prime minister admitted that the government was not consistent enough in fighting monopolies. On February 12, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan also said that it is time to change a lot of things.  Meanwhile, many partners of Armenia, including the EU and the US, have already stated that they are going to provide no financial assistance for combating corruption until they see specific and tangible results.