Wednesday, January 17 2018 16:40

ArmInfo. At present, the share of the shadow economy in big business is about 30%, small and medium-sized businesses in this regard are a little more successful. This January 17, said the head of the Union of Employers of Armenia Gagik Makaryan. At the same time, he urged with special caution to fight against the "shadow".

According to him, the shadow economy in Armenia has a long history. The shadow in Armenia is manifested in two ways: it is the presence of significant volumes of unregistered turnover and labor - the model of an unregistered economy, and the second model is an informal economy in which the company circumvents laws based on previously reached agreements with state officials.

At present, the "workers" of the shadow sphere have made significant progress. The leaping growth of the shadow, according to the expert, has been greatly facilitated in recent years by the scaling up of corruption and the establishment of unequal competitive conditions. Not the least role was played by the crisis, which led to the fact that many of the households went deep into the ground. For today, the workforce in the shadows continues to record new heights - in the service sector it has reached- 60-70%.

Referring to the data of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), the expert noted that due to the scale of the "shadow", the Armenian budget annually receives less than $ 1-2 billion on average. However, according to Gagik Makaryan, take an interest in the idea of fighting against the shadow economy in the conditions of the Armenian reality. "Without creating the appropriate conditions for the development of the business environment, we can destroy business by the results of this struggle.  Thousands of entrepreneurs survive precisely because of the "shadow". Thus, the pace of improving the business climate in Armenia, as well as stimulating exports should outstrip the dynamics of the fight against the shadow economy," he concluded.

According to the assessment of various international structures, the shadow economy in Armenia has grown to 35-50% in recent years. According to the latest data from the State Revenue Committee, the "shadow" has significantly decreased, in particular, by the collection of taxes - up to 30%. Vardan Harutyunyan, Chairman of the Committee of State Revenues of Armenia, assured on October 4, 2016, that the department is struggling with the shadow in a daily mode and its results are obvious.