ArmInfo.On May 26, the Armenian parliament adopted a bill on amending the law "On State Duty", which proposes to establish a customs duty on the import of cement from Iran and other countries to Armenia in the amount of 14 thousand drams per ton, and 2 thousand drams per ton of clinker.
On May 7, during the first reading of the bill, acting Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said in parliament that the Cabinet of Ministers will set a duty of 25 thousand drams for the import of 1 ton of cement and 9 thousand drams for the import of the same volume of clinker. According to him, the legislative initiative concerns the regulation of the process of importing cement and clinker, and, in fact, the licensing of this activity. "The project is aimed at maximizing the preservation of the economic potential of Armenia and ensuring the operation of two cement plants operating in the republic," he said.
The economic commission of the parliament did not accept the proposal, in connection with which the document was revised and, before the second reading, the amendments proposed by them were introduced into it as follows - the duty for the import of cement will be 14 thousand drams, and clinker - 2 thousand drams per ton. In addition, the activity of importing cement and clinker is recognized as licensed. At the suggestion of the head of the standing committee on economic affairs Babken Tunyan, the date of entry into force of the bill was recognized on July 8 (until July 8, a ban on the import of Iranian cement is in effect).
To recall, in 2018, due to some economic changes in Iran, Iranian cement became cheaper than that produced in Armenia. As a result, imports of Iranian cement have increased significantly, and to protect the local producer, the government has provided a state duty for imported cement and clinker. In March 2019, a duty of 22 thousand drams was proposed for each imported ton of cement or clinker, but according to the results of the discussions, the rates were adopted in the following amount - 14 thousand drams for cement, for the clinker the rate was set to "zero" drams. Since the beginning of this year, the import of cement and clinker has been banned to protect the interests of local enterprises. The clinker ban was then lifted. On June 3, 2019, the Armenian parliament adopted a decision, according to which, until April 1, 2020, a customs duty was established on the import of cement from Iran and other countries to Armenia in the amount of 14 thousand drams per ton. Later, this change was extended until December 31, 2020. Since the beginning of this year, a ban was introduced on the import of Iranian cement until July 8. As a result of the decision, production at the Ararat-Cement cement plant increased from 443 thousand tons in 2019 to 534 thousand tons in 2020, and in Hrazdan Cement - from 30 thousand tons to 90 thousand tons. At the same time, the import of cement decreased from 208 thousand tons to 152 thousand tons, the production of cement from clinker decreased from 118 thousand tons to 91 thousand tons, and in general the market grew from 800 thousand tons to 866 thousand tons.
