Bagratyan on WB report: There was nobody in the government to tell  the Prime Minister that Armenia was downgraded because of granting  unclear tax benefits to business

ArmInfo. "Do not provide business with tax benefits," Armenian former Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan calls on the Armenian authorities. According to the  economist, this particular tool to support the private sector is  pulling the Armenian economy down.

"Yesterday, the World Bank's annual Doing Business 2020 rating was  published. Armenia fell from the 41st place to the 47th according to  the results of the" implemented "economic revolution," Bagratyan  wrote on his Facebook page.

According to the economist, Armenia is "downgraded" because of 5  indicators: the lack of protection of the interests of business  minority shareholders, the process of granting building permits,  paying taxes and providing loans. The gap associated with the last  indicator, Bagratyan believes, is due to the "generosity" of the  authorities to provide tax benefits. "Yesterday at the government  meeting, an interesting obstacle to paying taxes was noted -  providing tax benefit to Khachatur Sukiasyan (businessman and founder  of Sil Concern LLC. His company Sil-MAAZA was granted a deferment  from VAT, ed. note). The WB and DB urge not to provide these tax  benefits, " the expert said.

Meanwhile, as Bagratyan noted, this year in Armenia provision of such  benefits increased. "And there was no one in the government who would  tell the prime minister that we are steadily downgrading precisely  because of the provision of these obscure tax benefits. Khachatur  Sukiasyan and Samvel Aleksanyan (owner of the Alex Group company.  Ed.note) are entrepreneurs, whom I respect. But can they not be given  privileges? Can these privileges be established for everyone? Why do  you make them even bigger oligarchs than in the ugly times of the SS  (former President Serzh Sargsyan, ed.), Hrant Bagratyan concluded.

It should be noted that according to the data of the Ministry of  Economy of Armenia, for January- September of this year 45 investment  programs for transactions with import of equipment worth 172.8  billion drams received a tax benefit in the form of exemption from  customs duties. Of these, seven also received a benefit in the form  of exemption from VAT, which provide for investments in the amount of  67.5 billion drams. Only through the VAT line the privilege was  provided to three more companies that are planning investments in the  amount of 152.1 billion drams. Thus, in general, the privilege was  granted to 48 investment programs with an investment package of 324.9  billion drams.

To recall, yesterday commenting at the request of RA Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan on the deterioration of Armenia's position in the WB  rating, RA Economy Minister Tigran Khachatryan noted that this is  mainly due to a change in the methodology for assessing 10 research  areas and the introduction of a new direction related to the level of  development of the stock market. "If these directions were excluded,  the republic would improve its position by 1.3 points, and in this  indicator would come closer to the leading states of the world," the  minister said. Earlier, the WB was guided by a pre-approved  methodology, which considered, for example, such areas as the terms  of registration of an organization, property rights, payment of  taxes, building permits, connection to the electric grid, court cases  and bankruptcy proceedings.  According to the minister, Armenia has  improved its position on tax payments and VAT refunds, which was  positively evaluated by WB experts. Positive dynamics are observed in  the process of granting permits for construction work. This year,  Tigran Khachatryan continued, the WB in its studies for the first  time applied a new assessment methodology, which is mainly related to  the protection of the rights of minority shareholders, including  through legislative reforms. The Minister recalled that the country's  parliament introduced the necessary amendments to the law "On Joint  Stock Companies", which fully protect the interests of minority  shareholders. As Tigran Khachatryan noted, another innovation  concerns the registration of private companies on the stock exchange  and the turnover of shares. And if the number of companies listed on  the stock exchange is less than 10, then even with the control of  both the state and private minority shareholders and the level of  corporate responsibility, 0 points are awarded. Moreover, regardless  of the availability of legal regulations. In other words, the more  participants in the stock exchange, the higher the score. If you  evaluate from this point of view, the minister noted, then Armenia  from the 51st place last year would be 120th in the current one. As a  result, there is deterioration of positions in the overall ranking by  six positions. In turn, the Chairman of the Central Bank, Arthur  Javadyan, pointed out a technical error that had been found, if the  republic had been excluded, it would have been in the 37th place,  referring to information about minority shareholders, but without  noting what is being said.