ArmInfo. A meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on Free Economic Zones (FEZ) was held at the Ministry of Economy, chaired by Armenian Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan.
The participants discussed the results of activities for 2025 based on reports and declarations submitted by the FEZ organizers and operators, as well as several issues related to the development of free economic zones. According to the press service of the Ministry of Economy, they have reviewed the current activities of the Meghri FEZ separately and have outlined the next steps. Following the discussions, instructions were given and certain decisions were made. However, the Ministry of Economy did not specify which decisions were being discussed.
It's worth to note that during a final press conference in early February, Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan pointed out the issues with the owner of the Meghri Free Economic Zone, emphasizing that the legal proceedings in this case had dragged on. "Until there is a legal solution, we won't be able to do anything," the Minister noted.
Recall, the Armenian government approved a draft resolution on the creation of the Meghri Free Economic Zone on the border with Iran on December 7, 2017, during a regular meeting.
Meanwhile, criminal cases were opened regarding land plots adjacent to the Meghri FEZ back in 2019. As Nikol Pashinyan claimed at the time, the lands were acquired by "high-ranking" officials at ridiculous prices and through fraud.
According to the Prime Minister, some "strange" facts emerged during the implementation of the FEZ creation program. "We had preliminary information that high-ranking officials, aware of plans to establish a FEZ in this area, managed to acquire adjacent land plots at ridiculous prices. During my visit last year, it became clear that there is no state-owned land there for the project," Pashinyan stated.
At the time, it was reported that the issue would be resolved within two to three months, and all the facts indicate that the land plots should be returned to the state. If the investigation proves that the transactions were fraudulent, grounds will be established for invalidating them, and those responsible will be held accountable, the Prosecutor General's Office stated.
The land area assigned to the FEZ does not exceed 2 hectares. It was planned to expand to 10 hectares in the future, and then to 50 hectares. However, negotiations with private landowners did not produce the desired result. Therefore, the state is forced to take the unpopular route of alienating these lands on the grounds of public interest. It is unknown whether this issue has been resolved.
The total cost of construction of the FEZ in Meghri was estimated at $32 million, of which $28 million was capital expenditure. It was expected that 100-120 companies would operate there, with revenues of $52 million over 10 years, and that their products would be exported to Iran, the EAEU, the Middle East, Turkmenistan, and other countries. The total investment of all companies over 10 years was planned to reach $350-400 million. The operation of theFEZs is already legally enshrined in the Customs Code of the EAEU. A total of seven such zones will operate within the EAEU under the duty-free system.
