ArmInfo.Armenia is considering the possibility of canceling the excise tax for winemakers. This was discussed at the meeting of acting Minister of Economy of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan with representatives of 40 wine and brandy enterprises.
According to founder of the Voskevaz winery, David Hovhannisyan, such changes will provide an opportunity for the creation of new medium and small wineries. In addition, as he noted, the participants of the meeting discussed the necessary changes in the state program related to the lands for founding vineyards, with which there have been serious problems for several years.
In turn, acting Minister of Economy announced the decision to eliminate bureaucratic problems that impede flexible implementation of government programs. "We have good programs, but bureaucracy creates various obstacles. We promised to eliminate them so that the wine industry breathes and grows as quickly as possible," Kerobyan stressed. According to the Ministry of Economy, the meeting participants also discussed the preparation and organization of the grape harvesting process. In this regard, it was noted that this year one should expect quite serious volumes in comparison with last year, the development of which was influenced by the situation with the coronavirus and military events.
In addition, head of the Vine and Wine Foundation of Armenia Zara Muradyan recalled that this year a platform for online sale of Armenian wines will be opened in Berlin. According to her, Armenia will deliver to Germany a consolidated cargo of 96 types of Armenian wines produced by 34 enterprises. According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, in January-May 2021, wine production in Armenia increased by 42.5%, amounting to 4.6 million liters, against a decline of 28.3% a year earlier. At the same time, the volumes of brandy produced in Armenia increased by 27.4% to 15.9 million liters (instead of a decline of 14.9% in the same period a year earlier) .
