ArmInfo.The Armenian government intends to protect domestic cement producers from foreign expansion. The amendments in the Law on State Duty and in the Law on Notification of Activities were approved at the February 21 meeting of the RA Government.
According to Minister of Economic Development and Investments of the Republic of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan, the cost of energy plays an important role in the cost of cement. The policy of state subsidizing the cost of gas and electricity for cement producers is carried out in neighboring states, as a result of which the volume of its imports to Armenia has increased significantly, and the volumes of production by domestic two plants have decreased. As of today, about 2 million tons of cement has accumulated in the warehouses of enterprises, of which only one-third is sold. In this regard, it is proposed to raise the rate for imported cement to 23 thousand drams per ton. As a result, as the Minister noted, prices in the domestic market will be equalized for domestic and imported products. The Minister also said that since last year, one of the factories carried out a program to improve energy efficiency, as a result of which the cost of gas and electricity in cement production dropped from 41 thousand drams to 36.2 thousand drams. The company intends to continue this work in the current year, which will significantly reduce the proportion of energy in the production of cement. Tigran Khachatryan also stressed that the package of documents will come into force on the 10th day after its entry into force. In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed that the decision taken today is aimed at supporting domestic producers. If no emergency measures are taken, Nikol Pashinyan continued, both domestic plants would be on the verge of bankruptcy, and the importers, using the opportunity, will dramatically increase the cost of cement. "Making a decision, we thereby protect the domestic market and create conditions for the development of the urban planning sector," said the head of government. To note, according to the data of the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia, in September 2018 cement production in Armenia decreased by 23.34% and amounted to 44 thousand tons. In total, in January-September 2018, 401 thousand tons of cement was produced against 251 thousand tons in January- September 2017. To recall, there are two cement plants operating in Armenia - Ararat and Hrazdan