State Revenue Committee of Armenia registers facts of serious violations in import and sales of oil derivatives on domestic market  

ArmInfo. The State Revenue Committee of Armenia has registered facts of serious violations in import and sales of oil derivatives on the domestic market of the country.  

The press office of the Committee reports that in early 2017 ARAGG company violated the law and made an attempt to sell fuel for hearths as kerosene oil and diesel fuel. Part of the fuel was sold in Goris by two individual entrepreneurs at small-scale wholesale trade outlets. The relevant measures have found out that the sold fuel was mixed with diesel fuel and the name on the invoice was different from the actual supplier.  In addition, an attempt was made to import new fuel from Iran. The laboratory examination has shown that the imported fuel met neither earlier accepted nor new criteria.  The customs structures prevented registration of the fuel.           

It is noteworthy that the State Revenue Committee has issued the press release 5 days after Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan's statement about the need to resolve the problem with the quality of petroleum and diesel fuel. 

To recall, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said at the Government's sitting on March 16 that Armenia needs to solve the problem of petroleum and diesel fuel quality. Karapetyan instructed Minister of Economic Development and Investments Suren Karayan to work out within a one-month period and submit to the Government the list of measures aimed at liquidation of any abuse on the oil derivatives market and toughening control over the quality of the petroleum and diesel fuel. The minister was also instructed to improve the system of providing permits for trade of the specified types of oil derivatives and establish clear restrictions with due regard for the current trade structure on the market. The Prime Minister assigned the minister and the State Revenue Committee to elaborate the methodology for assessing the petroleum and diesel fuel quality. Earlier, when asked by opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan about accumulation of 400 tons of diesel fuel on the border, Karapetyan said at the Parliament that the fuel is of low quality and it is meant for hearths. He added that due to the import of low quality product, Armenian armored vehicles came across serious problems in April 2016.  

To note, three companies - Flash LLC, CPS Oil Corporation LLC, and Max Petrol CJSC - cover 90% of the retail market of oil derivatives in Armenia. In 2017, Rosneft will supply Armenia with 210.5 tshd tons of oil derivative. According to the Customs Service of Armenia, in 2016 the import of oil derivatives to Armenia grew by 6.8% to 318.2 thsd tons, while the customs value dropped by 7% to $198.5 mln. At the same time, 243 kg of oil derivatives worth $3 mln was exported. The oil derivatives are imported mostly from Russia (72.4%), Iran (4.2%), Romania (3.5%), Greece (2.7%), Saudi Arabia (2.2%), while the exports falls mostly on Georgia - 97%, Poland - 2%, and Russia - 1%.