ISRIA , DC
June 7 2008
Armenia: Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan visited the RA State Customs
Committee by the Government and introduced to SCC staff newly
appointed head of the Committee Gagik Khachatryan
The Prime Minister said in particular:
"You very well know him, the skilled expert who keeps track of the
situation and, to our belief, is the one to provide for effective
operations of the customs service, program performance and, on the
other hand, to carry out such reforms as will ensure that customs
services are competitive in the Republic of Armenia and live up to the
best of global experience, are acceptable to those citizens and
businessmen who make customs payments, the charges on this
administration are minimal and fail to create obstacles to business
and, on the contrary, promote entrepreneurship in our country. It is
not a secret that this is a major problem in the Republic of
Armenia. We are a small country and the volume of imports and exports
grow every year. This means that from year to year the work of the
customs service should vary and comprise such potential to provide for
the delivery of high-quality services. The future of our economic
system is dependant on the efficiency of your work and the quality of
your services. We have no alternatives: the quality of customs
services should be the best in the region and meet the best global
experience. And this will be brought about through your hard work. We
are convinced the Mr. Khachatryan closely follows the developments in
this field, and is in a position to carry out the needed reforms. You
are on the first line of our front, and your work accounts for the
attitude of domestic tax-payers to our State because due to those
difficulties which first of all face the authorities and the State, we
lose in the trust of our citizens which is extremely dangerous. I want
you to realize this responsibility as your success will be the success
of our State.
I want to congratulate Mr. Khachatryan and assure you that he will get
every possible backing from us in order we manage to address this
important task through joint efforts and are proud of having built up
the most effective customs service in the region. And this has to be a
reality obvious to everybody and our people, first of all. I
congratulate Mr. Khachatryan and, at the same time, I have the honor
of introducing to you his newly appointed assistant ? Mr. Artak
Shaboyan. Mr. Shaboyan is young, but he has quite a long experience in
this area, he is a scientist, senior lecturer at the French University
of Armenia and the Economic University. For many years now, he has
worked in the Central Bank, has supervising skills and experience in
macroeconomic analysis and knowledge, and, from this point of view, I
feel that that potential which he has is crucial for the realization
of reforms in the customs sphere. He is well-known both in Armenia and
with the international structures which keep inviting him to attend
different missions, to deliver lectures and to introduce practical
functions in various transitional economies. This means that this
potential will be for us extremely useful during the implementation of
drastic reforms. Also, it seems extremely important for us that those
concepts which are already submitted by Mr. Khachatryan and concern
steps on reforming customs service, its structure, it is extremely
important that tax and customs reforms are carried out in parallel and
that there was a constructive cooperation.
I want to draw your attention to one more circumstance, namely those
allegations that are frequently heard about civil servants accusing
them of direct involvement in business, protectionism and so on. This
is of course a major concern for us and it is not a secret that there
are such rumors about Mr. Khachatryan, the staff of the customs
service, tax officers in a sense that they use the public office to
promote their private affairs. Such behavior on the part of our
officials is unacceptable to us. At the same time, we seek to protect
fair-minded and honest officials, publicity being the only way to it.
You may know that a key point of our reforms is the introduction in
the Republic of Armenia of the institute of conflict of
interest. Yesterday, as the World Bank presented those analytical
materials concerning our country and the areas of cooperation, it was
noted that the introduction of the institute of conflict of interest
in the Republic of Armenia will be high on the government’s reform
agenda. Objectively, all of us have relatives and persons related to
us who are engaged in business. This is inevitable, though the problem
consists in that the individuals closely related to us should be in
the center of our attention and, first of all, they should have a
confidence-building reputation by paying taxes punctually instead of
evading them. It is understood that Mr. Khachatryan and many of you
have relatives in the sphere of business. First of all, you must be
exacting toward your relatives if we want the customs service to enjoy
the confidence of our people. We shall introduce this institute and we
shall start from the tax and customs services as they, on the one
hand, will create a corresponding atmosphere which will help your
activity and, on the other hand, will be free to carry out these
reforms with more determination. Once again, I congratulate
Mr. Khachatryan and Mr. Shaboyan on appointment and wish them fruitful
work."
CTED/D/2008/JUNE_13/diplo_07june2008_25.htm
origi nal source
tre_8/official_news_en.php?&date=1212606000
http://www.isria.info/RESTRI
http://www.gov.am/enversion/information_cen