Chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, a consultation was held on tax and customs privileges granted under investment programs in priority areas, as well as on agricultural projects. The meeting was attended by heads of government departments and representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister.

Before proceeding to the agenda, the Premier touched upon the results of his working visits to Luxemburg, Brussels and China. Noting that in general he was pleased with the outcome of the visits, Nikol Pashinyan advised that he was going to hold consultations on specific issues in concrete directions.

Coming to the agenda, RA Minister of Economic Development and Investments Tigran Khachatryan reported progress in those investment programs that had been granted tax and customs privileges for a period of up to 3 years. The Minister noted that the customs duty exemption is effective based on the Government Decision N 1118-N of September 17, 2015, and presented the factual data compiled on the basis of reports submitted by the companies concerned within the proposed timeframes.

To date, 106 companies have been granted such privileges, with total investments amounting to about USD 1.1 billion, with the actual amount of investment standing at USD 554 million.

Up to now, 5,351 jobs have been created out of 9230 planned jobs. 41 projects to a total cost of USD 481 million and with 3400 planned jobs were approved following the second half-year of 2018. 7 projects totaling USD 31 million and 432 jobs have been completed to date. The VAT exemption has been effective since 2009. It has been granted to 121 investment programs with a total investment of AMD 750 billion and expected 9782 jobs.

According to the annual reports submitted in 2018, actual investment totaled AMD 651 billion; the number of jobs was 9,175. 56 projects have already been completed. 30 investment projects have been granted both VAT delays and exemptions from customs duties.

The possibility of amending the aforementioned procedures with a view to raising the accountability of companies and the targeting of privileges was discussed during the exchange of views that followed. The speakers specifically suggested simplifying the privilege granting procedures, enhancing programs’ transparency, improving the monitoring system and so on.

Summing up the discussion, Prime Minister Pashinyan highlighted the need for a shift from the government’s discretional decisions to general regulations. He gave those responsible two months’ time to submit a revised package of regulatory documents.

The meeting next heard reports on the implementation of agricultural projects. In particular, the interim results of the program of subsidizing interest rates for agricultural loans, financial leasing of farm machinery and agricultural equipment, introduction of modern irrigation systems, intensive gardens, hail protection networks, construction of “smart” farms, cattle breeding and domestic seed farming programs were discussed.

Stressing the need for proper implementation of rural and agricultural development programs, the Prime Minister considered it important to follow up the advisory and awareness-raising activities with individual and collective farmers.

“The members of government, the ministers and the deputy ministers should each have a role of an ideologist in their field. This is the most important thing. That is to say, they should explain to people what we are doing and what they themselves should do. Nothing will change, unless the general perception is changed,” Nikol Pashinyan pointed out.

Coming to the exports of agricultural products, the Premier highlighted the need for uninterrupted operations and gave instructions to the heads of relevant departments.