Thursday, February 21 2019 14:43

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