ArmInfo. If in 2022 the list of 1000 largest taxpayers in Armenia included 8 mining organizations, then in 2023 there were already 5 of them. Vardan Janyan, First Deputy General Director of Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine CJSC (ZCMC), President of the Union of Miners and Metallurgists of Armenia stated on January 29 b during a discussion on the topic "Trends in the economic development of the Republic of Armenia in the context of the economic distribution of large taxpayers" at the Club of Economic Journalists.
As Janyan pointed out, ZCMC has been at the top of the list for the last three years. Meanwhile, during 2014-21, ZCMC was in the lead for only one year. "For the last three years, after the new owner and the appointment of new management, we have been constantly in the lead. The plant records an increase in both profits and taxes paid," he emphasized.
Unlike ZCMC, if we compare 2023 with 2022, the industry as a whole is experiencing a decline, the expert noted. "In 2023, in addition to ZCMC, 4 more mining organizations were included in the list of the largest taxpayers of the Republic of Armenia, which together paid about 30 billion drams in taxes. Meanwhile, in 2022, 8 organizations of the sector were among the first hundred largest taxpayers on the list, which together paid about 90 billion drams in taxes. That is, there is a significant retreat. There are both subjective and objective reasons for this," he said.
In particular, Janyan explained that since the mining industry is mainly an export sector, the dram exchange rate had a great impact on the sector. "In the last three years, we have noticed an appreciation of the dram exchange rate, which has a great negative impact on our industry. The dram appreciation has a positive effect only for importers," the expert explained.
According to the State Revenue Committee, at the end of 2023, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine tops the list of the largest taxpayers in Armenia (for the second year in a row). The company allocated 70.8 billion drams to the state treasury in 2023 (with a y-o-y decline of 50.8%), of which 5.2 billion drams were for customs duties, 27.1 billion. drams - for direct taxes (including profit tax, income tax), 5.6 billion drams - for indirect taxes (including VAT, excise tax).
