Decision Made in Favor of Tsarukyan's Business: Will There Be Shadow Cooperation? - "Hraparak"

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan decided yesterday at a government meeting to prohibit the import of cement in Armenia for six months through one of the unreported projects. The government justified the necessity of the decision as a means to protect the domestic market and local producers.

"The specified mechanisms for restricting cement imports do not violate the obligations undertaken by the Republic of Armenia through international treaties. Therefore, the aforementioned non-tariff regulatory measures are periodically applied in the member states of the EAEU to protect the local market by restricting the import or export of various goods," the justification states.

The dominant player in the cement market is "Ararat Cement," which is part of the "Multi Group Concern" and belongs to Gagik Tsarukyan. In recent years, cement imports from Iran and Georgia have been encouraged, which has made the operations of "Ararat Cement" unprofitable. In 2018 alone, 181 thousand tons of cement were imported. Tsarukyan demanded restrictions on cement imports back in 2019.

In 2019, in order to protect local producers, it was decided through discussions in the National Assembly to impose a 22,000 dram duty on imports; however, the change would only be in effect for a year. "My Step" announced that the increase in the customs duty on cement imports is temporary until they determine what measures are needed for fundamental solutions to the competitiveness of local production.

Despite the apparent freeze in relations between Nikol Pashinyan and Tsarukyan during the post-war period, a decision is being made that could either be the result of shadow cooperation or a gesture of goodwill to gain the favor of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK).

Member of the National Assembly’s Economic Issues Committee, Hovik Agazaryan, explained to us that since the deadline for importing cement without a customs duty expired at the end of 2020, and the members of BHK did not participate in the committee discussions, it is likely that the government has found another temporary solution once again in favor of the local producer," writes the "Hraparak" newspaper.