ArmInfo. From January 1, 2020, prices in Armenia will increase by an average of 7-10 percent in connection with the application of common customs duties of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union. Mikayel Melkumyan, Chair of the Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration of the National Assembly of the RA, shared the same forecast with a similar forecast at a press conference in Yerevan on December 18.
According to him, for Armenia, which became a member of the EAEU from January 2, 2015, there was a five-year grace period for the application of uniform customs duties on almost 950 names of commodity products. During this period, it was planned to create enterprises for the production of goods most sensitive to the population. The MP recalled that the republic earlier than all other countries of the Union joined the World Customs Organization (2002). Then Armenia assumed obligations to apply two customs rates - 0% and 10%. Until the end of 2014, the republic received about $ 105 million in customs duties, but how much it received after joining the EAEU is difficult to say, since it also uses the EAEU's common cash desk depending on the standards for the distribution of customs duties. For Armenia, this norm is 1.22%. One thing is obvious, the MP continued, so far the republic has received more funds from this cash desk than it has allocated. From January 1, 2020, all privileges will be excluded, which will inevitably lead to an increase in prices for 800 items of products. For insensitive goods, growth will be insignificant, since prices have already risen over the past 1-1.5 years.
To recall, the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) following a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (EEC) in Yerevan on October 1 approved a new norm for the distribution of import duties between the countries of the Union. Earlier, the Kremlin's press service published a list of documents adopted as a result of the EEC meeting in Yerevan. Among them is the decision "On Amending the Decision of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of October 10, 2014 No. 79", which concerns the distribution of these duties. In March 2019, Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko said that his country considered unfair the distribution of import customs duties between the members of the Union within the EAEU. Until now, the standards have been distributed as follows: for Armenia - 1.22%, for Belarus - 4.56%, for Kazakhstan - 7.05%, for Kyrgyzstan - 1.9%, for Russia - 85.26%.