ARMENIA MUST BE WITHDRAWN FROM OFFSHORE
“It is possible to separate business and government in Armenia but
I find it hard to tell how seriously the issue is treated by the
government,” Member of Parliament Hrant Bagratyan told Lragir.am,
commenting on the ongoing efforts against interrelation of business
and officials.
“It is for sure that we need to fight against it. The fight started 15
years ago. It does not mean that people must be poor. A person should
work legally, it is possible. There is another issue – how correct
the link between a major businessman and public administration is,
there might be a conflict of interest,” Hrant Bagratyan said.
The economist says the Armenian government must also fight against
hiding Armenian assets in the offshore. “The Central Bank of Armenia
has a list of offshore countries, and I would suggest them to revise
the list seriously. They should have figured out if one can work in
the offshore or not. According to the current legislation one can,”
Bagratyan says.
Hrant Bagratyan has drafted a law regulating offshore companies
running mines in Armenia which the government did not approve.
“The purpose of my initiative is to cut it in mines, the next will
be financial sector. I think the law must prohibit our companies to
operate in the offshore. They are not controllable, there you can
avoid paying taxes,” he said.
Hrant Bagratyan notes that a small country like Armenia cannot afford
keeping assets in uncontrollable areas. “You never know what company it
is, it is not accountable, very often it is criminal,” Bagratyan says.
11:52 04/05/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:
From: A. Papazian