Minister: State duty on gold export aims to improve process control  and boost state budget revenues

ArmInfo. The application of state duty on gold export was intended, on the one hand, to address process control issues, and also to increase the revenue for the country's state budget. This was  stated by Gevork Papoyan, RA Minister of Economy, on October 23 during the government session in  the National Assembly of Armenia, in response to a question from  Tadevos Avetisyan, a deputy from the opposition faction "Armenia". 

The MP, in particular, pointed out that there has been a significant  surge in the re-export of gold products since 2022, reaching its peak  in January-April of this year, with a 9- fold increase compared to  the same period in the previous year. Additionally, trade turnover  between Armenia and Russia has increased by 3.2 times during this  period. In other words, Russian companies have been exporting their  gold through Armenia, receiving excess profits. At the same time,  Armenia's trade turnover with the UAE has 6increased by 7.2 times. In  the middle of the year, a state duty was imposed on the export of  gold products in Armenia, leading to the exclusion of re-export and  significant shocks for the country's economy. 

The MP inquired about the actions taken by the RA government doing  during these 2.5 years, when companies from some countries made  excess profits, while the country's budget lost billions of drams. In  response, Papoyan emphasized that the main goal of the government is  to establish the entire production chain in the country for jewelry  production. The measures taken, according to the minister, have  produced positive results, including a significant increase in  finished and semi-finished products. Papoyan also noted that the gold  re-export process has not been halted, it is still ongoing. He  refuted the MP's claims that the process began in 2022, stating that  it actually started in November 2023.