Yerevan traders protest against government
he economic and social situation in Armenia continues to remain terrible and deteriorates every year. The poor South Caucasus nation faces a number of problems– inflation, unemployment, corruption, depreciation of the dram, low foreign investment, falling exports and many others.
However, the Armenian authorities, instead of joining forces with the population to get out of this crisis, try to create obstacles for the life and work of Armenians, especially business people.
Thus, hundreds of shopkeepers in various Yerevan shopping centers once again gathered in front of the Government Building on April 25 to protest against the violations.
The protesters claim that the Armenian tax authorities have been terrorizing them for the past several days by carrying out inspections at their shops and demanding their documents.
Protester Armen Nersisyan said that the traders have already formed a working group of 15 people, who will meet with representatives of the government and present their claims and proposals.
“We will submit proposals for creation of conditions that will harm neither us nor the state. Our offer is that when we cross the border, we will pay customs payments at the border to avoid paperwork, pay the required 1.5 percent, and get exempted from this. This will be good for both them and us,” Nersisyan said.
Earlier, on April 21, hundreds of Armenian citizens, who earn their living at the shopping centers of Yerevan, gathered at the building of the Armenian Government. The traders demanded the same thing – to allow them to work in peace.
Ruzanna Kichyan, who works at Arinj Mall, said in conversation with Epress.am that officials from tax services demand money from the shopkeepers, otherwise threatening not to “leave them alone.”
They demanded a meeting with Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan. However, Karapetyan refused to meet with the people; so, they presented their claims to his assistant Hayk Zurabyan.
The Zhamanak daily earlier reported that Karapetyan has ordered the tax services to “keep their eyes” on Yerevan’s Petak, Surmalu, and Arinj Mall shopping centers; over the past days, tax inspectors have been visiting the shopping centers and groundlessly threatening to fine the workers.
This is not the first mass protest of Armenian merchants. Last year, the traders demanded lower rents as they weren’t able to pay at the rates that the Armenian authorities established.
Obviously, the Armenian government, which has already destroyed the economy of the country, came up with a new idea of increasing the state revenues – to collect extra money from ordinary Armenians.