Saturday, 24 January 2009
Accompanied by the ministers of economy, finance, employment and social affairs, the State Revenue Committee chairman and other officials, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan called at the Vagharsh and Sons Ltd-owned gold market in Khorenatzi street to get acquainted with the traders’ working conditions and hear their grievances, repeatedly voiced during the sits-in held in front of the government building.
After going round the marketplace and talking to several traders, the Prime Minister concluded that there are too many problems - sanitary-hygienic, health care- and fire safety-related - which is a gross breach of legislation. In addition, many of the pavilions lack in cash registers. The traders also complained of high monthly fees charged by market administrators: the minimum fee stands at about AMD 70.000 of which only 18.000 drams are paid to the Treasury and 5.000 to the Pension Fund with the balance going to the administrator for leasing, accounting and other purposes. During interviews held with the traders, the Prime Minister explained that the latest legislative amendments are aimed at relieving the tax burden for sellers by shifting the focus upon market administrators. The administrator is the one to pay for new cash registers, install them and ensure normal working conditions at the workplace.
Following his visit, the Prime Minister called a consultative meeting in order to summarize the outcomes and find solutions to the existing problems. Accordingly, the head of the State Revenue Committee by the Government was charged to prepare an analytical note on the annual financial statements, lease settlements and fiscal liabilities of Vagharsh and Sons Ltd within short time-limits for the Prime Minister’s consideration.
In compliance with another assignment, the Labor Inspectorate by the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs shall conduct surveys round the marketplace to make a record of labor code breaches and take the measures called for by domestic laws. The Ministry of Emergency Situations was directed to look into the safety standards applicable in this market, including the fire safety requirements and take all necessary action.
The head of government is convinced that as a result of all these measures, favorable conditions will be created for thousands of employees of trade fairs and supermarkets in both financial-economic and operating terms.
