Alliance free economic zone to be closed 

ArmInfo.  The Alliance free economic zone operating in Armenia will be liquidated. The decision to this effect was made at the meeting of the RA government on August 7.

As noted in the justification for the draft decision, on February 2,  2012, the Cabinet of Ministers made a decision to establish the  SITRONICS Armenia FEZ on the basis of RAO MARS CJSC and the Yerevan  Institute of Mathematical Machines.

Subsequently, the free economic zone was named the ALLIANCE FEZ,  which was put into operation on August 1, 2013. On August 14, 2013,  the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia and SITRONICS  Armenia CJSC signed an agreement on the organization of the  above-mentioned free economic zone. By the decision of the RA  government dated July 27, 2023, the validity period of the free  economic zone was extended for one year, and then by the decision of  the Cabinet of Ministers dated August 8, 2024 - for another year. The  type of activity of the FEZ "ALLIANCE" is defined as industrial-  technical and technical-applied in the areas of activity of the  organization. It should be noted that in 2023, the company "SITRONICS  Armenia" was renamed to the company "Alliance FEZ", so the organizer  of the FEZ "Alliance" remained unchanged. 

Given that the validity period of the SEZ after the last extension  was set at 12 years and expires this year, ZAO Alliance FEZ filed an  application for extension of the validity period of the zone in  accordance with the procedure established by law, which includes an  application, a summary and a business plan for development for  2025-2035.

The submitted business plan was presented to the members of the  Interdepartmental Commission on Free Economic Zones. As a result of  the assessment of the business plan by the members of the Commission,  the average arithmetic score was 60.83 points, however, three members  of the Commission assessed the business plan below the passing  threshold (the passing threshold is considered to be 60 points).

Meanwhile, if the business plan is assessed below the passing  threshold by at least three members of the Commission, a negative  conclusion is given on the application. Therefore, the Commission  issued a negative conclusion on the submitted application. In this  regard, a decision was made to liquidate the Alliance SEZ, and the  government decision of July 12, 2013 became invalid.

Previously 4 FEZs were created in Armenia: "Alliance", "Meridian",  "Meghri" and "Ekos".