ArmInfo. More than a dozen companies producing brandy and wine turned to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, demanding that the amendments to the "On State Fees" law be canceled.
According to entrepreneurs, they already feel the negative impact of the document on the field, which has led to an increase in production costs, a reduction in export volumes, and a weakening of positions in the international market. At the same time, entrepreneurs expressed their willingness to discuss with the authorities all disputed issues.
The problem is that since January 1, an amendment to the State Duty Act passed by the last parliament came into force, according to which major producers of alcoholic beverages must pay 100 AMD ($ 0.21 cent) for each liter of alcohol produced. Producers believe that since the contractual prices with the sales market, which is mainly Russia, remain the same, the profitability of production thereby decreases and it becomes uncompetitive in the CIS markets.
According to statistics, in 2018 Armenia increased the production of brandy, wine and beer, while reducing the production of whiskey and champagne. According to the data of the RA Statistical Committee during the reporting period 30.7 mln.l brandy, which is 2.5% more than a year ago. The volume of wine produced in Armenia increased by only 0.3% to 8.8 mln l.
According to statistics, in 2018 only 806 thousand l were produced in Armenia, whiskey, with an y-o-y decline of 23.3%. The decline in production was also recorded in terms of champagne, for the reporting period the production of which amounted to 753.4 thousand liters, which is less than a year ago by 12.8%.