Armenian premier resolute on plan to fight shadow – economist  

Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan and his cabinet are resolute on their plan to fight shadow economy, says Gagik Makaryan, the chairman of the Republican Union of Employers.

“The premier is little by little narrowing the scope, focusing on the problems that need to be eliminated,” he told Tert.am, commenting on the premier’s remarks delivered at a recent public meeting held as part of the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s 110’s anniversary celebrations.

The economist said he regrets that the problem wasn’t voiced at the ruling Republican Party’s congress on November 24.

“International organizations’ estimates reveal that shadow accounts for 30%-50% of Armenia’s gross domestic product. In other words, US $5 billion remains annually in the shadow. So a sum equivalent to that doesn’t go into the [State] Budget to secure taxes of $1-1.2 billion. We could otherwise have $3.5 billion - instead of the $2.5billion - to resolve a range of problems.”

The economist said combating shadow is important also in terms of respecting the commitments to the new EU-Armenia cooperation agreement.

“By combating shadow and corruption, we must also try to encourage investors and motivate them to our country to implement broader and more target-oriented reforms  and raise their effectiveness.”

Makaryan added that he treats corruption and shadow as two drops of water each of which generates the other. “It is especially corruption that generates much shadow, but I find  it is possible to fight shadow with more rapid efforts towards not only changing the atmosphere but also making a political decision, including with the support of the Republican Party’s top leadership. Shadow normally has different categories, as we observe it in the labor force, overturn, and the accurate names and quantity of goods imported to Armenia. ”