ArmInfo. Large-scale penalties will be applied for advertising loan offers by non-licensed structures in Armenia. The government of the country at a meeting on March 21 approved a legislative initiative proposed by lawmakers of the opposition Bright Armenia faction on amending the Code on Administrative Offenses.
Presenting the draft, RA Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan noted that the MPs propose raising fines for advertising credit offers in the media, social networks and electronic media from the current 50 thousand drams to 2 million drams in the first case and to 4 million in the second case . The Minister also invited the lawmakers to conduct joint research in order to make a comprehensive decision. In particular, Zeynalyan continued, it is important to determine the situation on the market, the circle of unlicensed persons offering "cheap loans", market characteristics, pricing policies and only after that return to the mechanisms of penalties and fines.
In turn, Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia Artur Javadyan stressed that the structure he heads fully supports the draft law. At the same time, the Central Bank considers it necessary to make changes concerning not only advertising, but also non-licensed activities. According to Artur Javadyan, the applied penalty of 40 thousand drams does not reflect the existing state of affairs, since people illegally carrying out such activities receive several dozen times more money from one transaction alone. He also reported on the initiation of several criminal cases against a number of individuals. The head of the Central Bank also reported on ongoing programs aimed at improving the financial literacy of citizens. Currently, work is underway with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, in the framework of which 12,000 teachers have completed training courses. A month campaign has been announced in the country to improve financial literacy, during which conferences, seminars and round tables will be held in various regions of the country. Similar seminars are already being held at the Central Bank itself. Relevant work has begun with TV channels and other media.