ArmInfo.Head of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) of Armenia Edward Hovhannisyan has no information that a new customs terminal is being built in Meghri and that the president of the "SIL" concern, businessman Khachatur Sukiasyan is building it. He said this on June 2 in parliament in an interview with reporters.
The head of the State Revenue Committee was only informed that the act on the suspension of the license of the customs warehouse in Meghri, in connection with the violations revealed by the tax authorities "incompatible with its activities", was appealed in court. "I have no information about whether the terminal is being built or not, or who is building it. To tell the truth, I learned about it from you," Hovhannisyan said.
As the chief tax officer explained, there is no procedure obliging the developer to inform the State Revenue Committee about their plans. "Perhaps there will be such an initiative, they will build a terminal, and at the end they will apply for permission from the State Revenue Committee," Hovhannisyan said, stressing that at the moment no one has applied to the department for obtaining such a document. Meanwhile, as reported in the EU office in Armenia, on the second day of her visit to Syunik region, the head of the EU office in Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin visited Meghri. On the Armenian-Iranian state border, the Ambassador met with representatives of the Republic's State Revenue Committee to discuss the planned work on the modernization of the border checkpoint in Meghri, funded by the EU in partnership with the EBRD. Wiktorin highlighted the importance of this key connectivity agenda for the EU, EBRD and the citizens of Armenia. The parties agreed to start building the checkpoint in the near future.
It should be reminded that on April 21, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Syunik accompanied by dozens of security officers. He was not very "friendly" received in Agarak, Meghri and Kajaran. Already in Kapan, during the meeting, he instructed the heads of the power structures to punish all the culprits in a harsh manner. This was followed by the detention of the heads of Syunik communities. In particular, Mayor of Meghri Mkhitar Zakaryan was charged with hooliganism for organizing protests in Syunik. The court found his detention unlawful, and he was released. On April 22, the license of the Agarak customs warehouse, which serves the Meghri checkpoint and belongs to the Zakaryan family, was terminated. On April 28, the ruling parliamentary bloc "My Step" through a legislative initiative eliminated the privilege granted to the customs warehouse "Agarak", thus, according to the deputy from the pro-government faction Sisak Gabrielyan, eliminating "the monopoly of one person, which was given to him in due time by law" ... On April 26, the director of "PARA TV", wife of the former governor of Syunik region Vahe Hakobyan Elizabeth Petrosyan was interrogated in the framework of the criminal case at the Investigation Department of the State Revenue Committee (SRC). On April 30, at a press conference, the head of the State Control Service Tigran Ulikhanyan said that the Control Service is conducting checks in the Syunik region, but the work has nothing to do with developments around Pashinyan's visit to Syunik. "Research began even before the visit of the prime minister and have no direct connection with the visit of the head of government," he assured.
