Thursday, 8 June 2017
Prime Minister: “Taxi services do not meet the necessary quality and regulatory standards”
A Cabinet sitting was held today, chaired by Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan.
Before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister gave a number of instructions. Referring to transportation services provided at Zvartnots airport, the Prime Minister said, “After studying the current situation with the taxi services provided at Zvartnots airport, we can state that they do not meet the necessary quality and regulatory standards. This state of affairs is of great concern to us, given the fact that tourists and our citizens are the beneficiaries of these services.”
The Prime Minister instructed the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology to carry out preventive work with the taxi service providers of Zvartnots airport within a week’s time in order to put an end to irregularities in the field of licensing and discuss the possibility of modernizing the Zvartnots airport-Yerevan route network. The Premier next instructed the Chief of Police to carry out preventive work within a week’s time aimed at revealing offences committed by taxi drivers and imposing relevant sanctions.
“You all are well aware of the problem. Unshaven taxi drivers in slippers, with a cigarette in the mouth, Yerevanian Lake instead of Lake Sevan, use of selective tariffs and so on. Are we paying enough attention to the drivers’ looks and manners while issuing licenses?” Karen Karapetyan asked.
Noting that such practices are unacceptable, the Prime Minister instructed Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan to take tough measures in this direction.
Addressing Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology Vahan Martirosyan, the Prime Minister once again instructed him to regulate the sector by establishing clear-cut indications. The Premier suggested developing a route network, fixed-line tariffs, etc.
The Prime Minister also instructed to simplify and improve the seasonal fruit export procedures, grant additional benefits in light industry, create a unified digital environment and implement priority measures to ensure the transition to the mandatory use of slaughterhouses.
The Government approved the 2017 program of business environment improvement in Armenia, which is expected to ensure the continuity of the reforms implemented by the Government to improve the business and investment environment. First of all, it is expected to ease the administrative and financial burden of the sectors with a great potential of competitive edge. At the same time, the program seeks to support the sectors that have been successful in recent years. The planned 49 activities will help reduce the administrative burden, curb corruption risks and increase transparency in business services. It is also expected to improve Armenia’s position by 12 points in the World Bank’s Doing Business report, other things being equal. It was noted that there are still problems with the payment of taxes, issuance of construction permits, electricity supply and connectivity, as well as bankruptcy procedures.
Karen Karapetyan highlighted the implementation of the program and noted that the streamlining of the business environment will be conducive to economic growth. The Prime Minister instructed to post relevant information on the official website of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investment and organize regular meetings with the representatives of the business environment. The Prime Minister urged the Minister to keep in focus the planned measures in these areas, especially concerning the bankruptcy procedure.
The Tax Code provides for the introduction of a horizontal monitoring system, a new format in the formation of partnerships between tax authorities and taxpayers, which is widely used in the international practice.
The system aims to improve the tax environment. Its main advantage is that the tax authority can follow economic entities’ transactions without visiting them and give immediate notifications of irregularities, if revealed.
Accordingly, the Government determined the fields of activity of the organizations benefiting from the system of horizontal monitoring - metal ore mining, alcohol distillation, multiple distillation and blending, tobacco manufacturing, power generation, transmission and distribution, gas sales through the gas distribution system, water processing and distribution, telecom services, software development, consultancy and computer technologies.
Prioritizing the process, Karen Karapetyan said, “We sign a contract with the business entity and say that the given service will be provided free of charge; we will be monitoring and will give a warning when we see a problem. If we fail to warn, the entity will not be responsible for the irregularity identified. We are thereby preventing and prompting them to follow the right path. It is an important process, which must be paid special attention.” The Premier also stressed the need to expand the number of sectors.
The meeting also stipulated approved the application form associated with the system of horizontal monitoring, its completion procedure and timing, the form of the agreement, the documents necessary for conclusion, the grounds for refusal, the list of monitoring-related electronic documents (including transaction documentation) and the accounting program’s real-time accessibility to the tax authority and so on.
Reference was made to the installation of cash registers. Chairman of State Revenue Committee Vardan Haroutunyan said to have been working with the Minister of Finance in this direction, adding that a relevant proposal will be submitted within the next couple of days. Karen Karapetyan attached importance to this process.
“We have set ourselves the task of imposing cash registers to the whole network of retail outlets, which will enable us to bring domestic taxpayers out of the shadow, which in turn will help us ease the cross-border regime after a while. This will lead to increased economic activity in our country.
Therefore, please be very careful to this issue. It is a question of 6.5 million dollars, which will come under measure, and the reporting system will change fundamentally in our domestic sales,” the Head of Government said.
The Government approved a set of amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Armenia, and the laws On Food Safety and Veterinary Services. The amendments provide for administrative responsibility for the sale of non-slaughtered food, which will contribute to the effective implementation of State control.
The Government decided to relieve Hovsep Simonyan from the post of Shirak Marz Governor in accordance with his application. With another decision, Arthur Khachatryan was appointed Governor of Shirak Marz.
Karen Karapetyan congratulated Artur Khachatryan and wished fruitful work. Noting that Arthur Khachatryan has long experience of service in the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development and is familiar with the management culture to be introduced in Marz administrations, the Prime Minister expressed the hope that he would be able to quickly streamline those activities.
