ArmInfo.On September 7, the Government of Armenia, by written vote, approved the decision "On the application of temporary restrictions on the export to third countries of copper concentrate, molybdenum concentrate, ferromolybdenum, as well as molybdenum products (except for HS code 8102970000: Molybdenum waste and scrap) from the Republic of Armenia, on the establishment of the export licensing procedure, the form of license applications and licenses ".
According to the substantiation, in recent years, there has been an increase in exchange prices for non- ferrous metals in the world market, which creates favorable conditions for the growth of incomes of the mining sector in Armenia and its further development. At the same time, according to the document, this initiative is aimed at protecting the subsoil. In particular, given that the subsoil is the exclusive property of the state, the state establishes the procedure for issuing licenses in order to effectively manage subsoil use.
To this end, the Government of the Republic of Armenia presented a legislative initiative to amend Article of the RA Law "On State Duty" dated December 27, 1997, according to which the export of a number of goods (HS codes 2603000000, 2613, 7202700000, 8102 (except for 810297000) in third the country will be considered a licensed activity and a state duty rate is set for this type of activity.
It is noted that in order to regulate the process of exporting these goods, it was necessary to create an authorized body for issuing licenses, which was recognized by the RA Ministry of Economy, as well as to determine the procedure for issuing licenses, which would regulate legal relations between economic entities and the state in this direction.
This procedure provides for the issuance of a general license for the aforementioned exported goods, indicating the number of exported goods: the applicant can export them in separate lots during the period specified in the general license, with the end of the limit specified in the license. According to the authors of the bill, the aforementioned procedure will make it possible to minimize administration and export different parties on the basis of one license (there will be no need to apply to the Authorized Body every time).
At the same time, given that mining companies often need to export products in small quantities (up to 100 kg) for laboratory analysis to a third country, it was advisable to separate export licenses by type (main or one-off).
This decision comes into force the next day after its official publication and is valid for six months.
It should be reminded that on July 12 the Government of Armenia approved the bill "On Amendments to the RA Law" On State Duty ", the adoption of which is conditioned by the need to regulate foreign trade in goods of strategic importance for the republic (copper and molybdenum concentrates, ferromolybdenum).
According to researches, most of the copper mines in Armenia are profitable at a copper price of $ 5,300,and even after paying a state fee at $ 7,500, the sector remains quite profitable. According to the bill, the high profits obtained from the exploitation of the country's subsoil will be directed to the development of the manufacturing industry, strategic assets in the mining sector and deepening production value chains. Specifically, the plan is to deepen the copper value chain by first establishing high purity copper cathode production and then helping to rapidly develop an ecosystem of related products.
As stated in the document, the project is a temporary solution pending a complete and in-depth revision of the sector-related policy with the involvement of all departments in the sector. In the long term, it is planned to revise the tax policy of the industry in order to ensure effective taxation of excess profits from the use of the country's subsoil.
Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said then that the Cabinet of Ministers decided to introduce export duties on some by-products - copper and molybdenum concentrates, as a result of which 30-35 billion drams will be additionally transferred to the state budget in 2021, while maintaining export volumes. As he later noted on the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Economy, the establishment of a state duty of 15% of the international price for the issuance of licenses, permits and certificates for the export of raw materials, in particular ferromolybdenum, copper and molybdenum concentrate to third countries, subject to maintaining high international prices for the latter, in general, it will annually provide the state budget with about 72 billion drams.
Some media outlets called this decision politically motivated, directed against one of the largest enterprises - the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (in the Syunik region of Armenia), which owners supported the "Hayastan" bloc headed by second president Robert Kocharian during the early parliamentary elections.
