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BUSINESSMAN: DIRTY SCHEMES APPLIED ON COMPACT DISC MARKET IN ARMENIA
ARMINFO
Tuesday, April 16, 21:52
The compact disc market in Armenia is controlled by high-ranking
officials, with certain corrupt law enforcers forcing undesirables
out of the market, Director of Disc World retail chain Karen Qupelian
told journalists on Tuesday.
He told ArmInfo that he was once fined for an alleged attempt to sell
porno movies.
Qupelian said that in Oct 2012 the Government decreed that starting
from Apr 18 2013 all CDs and DVDs should bear an excise stamp
(costing 7.5 AMD or $0.02), but in Armenia, where Internet users have
free access to movies, music, computer programs and games, this is
a senseless measure. The only way-out here is that they should be
forced to pay for the content they download from the Internet.
Director of Hi-Fi retail chain Artashes Bostanjyan said that once the
excise stamp is introduced, the average price of CDs in Armenia will
jump from 500-3,000 AMD to 5,000-6,000 AMD. "In such a situation our
CD market will simply die," Bostanjyan said, adding that only one
company has managed to sell excised CDs in the last six months.
On the other hand, there is no chance to acquire excise labels for
the compact discs available in the stock, because for that purpose
it is necessary to sign relevant agreements with foreign copyright
holders and license holders of intellectual property items, receive
certificates of authenticity at the Intellectual Property Agency of
the Armenian Economy Ministry and then to present them to the taxation
bodies, which, in turn, provide the excise labels.
Nevertheless, David Hanoyan, Head of the Reco-Records company,
agreed that in case of observing the game rules in the market, the
introduction of compulsory excise labels will lead to the situation
that the sellers will be unable to evade tax obligations and will
observe the legislative standards on intellectual property protection.
No specific data about the output of the Armenian market of compact
discs were given. Armenia lacks official statistics on production,
import and export of these products.
ARMINFO
Tuesday, April 16, 21:52
The compact disc market in Armenia is controlled by high-ranking
officials, with certain corrupt law enforcers forcing undesirables
out of the market, Director of Disc World retail chain Karen Qupelian
told journalists on Tuesday.
He told ArmInfo that he was once fined for an alleged attempt to sell
porno movies.
Qupelian said that in Oct 2012 the Government decreed that starting
from Apr 18 2013 all CDs and DVDs should bear an excise stamp
(costing 7.5 AMD or $0.02), but in Armenia, where Internet users have
free access to movies, music, computer programs and games, this is
a senseless measure. The only way-out here is that they should be
forced to pay for the content they download from the Internet.
Director of Hi-Fi retail chain Artashes Bostanjyan said that once the
excise stamp is introduced, the average price of CDs in Armenia will
jump from 500-3,000 AMD to 5,000-6,000 AMD. "In such a situation our
CD market will simply die," Bostanjyan said, adding that only one
company has managed to sell excised CDs in the last six months.
On the other hand, there is no chance to acquire excise labels for
the compact discs available in the stock, because for that purpose
it is necessary to sign relevant agreements with foreign copyright
holders and license holders of intellectual property items, receive
certificates of authenticity at the Intellectual Property Agency of
the Armenian Economy Ministry and then to present them to the taxation
bodies, which, in turn, provide the excise labels.
Nevertheless, David Hanoyan, Head of the Reco-Records company,
agreed that in case of observing the game rules in the market, the
introduction of compulsory excise labels will lead to the situation
that the sellers will be unable to evade tax obligations and will
observe the legislative standards on intellectual property protection.
No specific data about the output of the Armenian market of compact
discs were given. Armenia lacks official statistics on production,
import and export of these products.