Tweet
Witnesses of Robbery
The head of the Public Services Regulatory Commission Robert Nazaryan
told on TV that the gas bills will increase up to 20%, not more. He
also informed that Russia boosted the price of gas on April 1.
A month and a half has passed but only now the government announced
about it. Officials avoid questions on the price of gas. They are
deceiving people. In other words, Serzh Sargsyan has agreed with
Vladimir Putin on the gas price on March 15 when he visited Moscow.
The heads of state agreed not to inform people until the election of
the Council of Elders of Yerevan on May 5 which ended in the `victory'
of Serzh Sargsyan's party.
Government officials, including the minister of energy, claims that
Armenia buys gas from Russia at the cheapest price. It is possible
that gas is not expensive at the border but ARG adds a markup which is
equal to it. So, while it is difficult for the government to persuade
Moscow not to increase the price of gas, the government can and has
the right to control ARG.
Armenia does not have a law on excess profit and markup. Therefore,
neither industries develop, nor imports. Markup on goods imported by
monopolists is sometimes 200-300% of the cost price.
Nothing and nobody is an obstacle to them but lots of countries have a
law on excess profit, and when markup exceeds 15-20%, tax grows. In
some countries tax on 50% markup is 80%. In those countries it is not
profitable to sell goods expensively, whereas in our country it is.
The law on excess profit may limit the appetite of ARG, as well as
most importers, even the Armenian `shuttles' who buy a product for 10
dollars in Turkey and China and sell for 25 dollars in Armenia.
Armenia does not want to cut the income of importers. One year ago the
parliament adopted a `punishment' law - the law on luxury. However,
the bill was `castrated' by the time it was adopted so it is not
applicable to anyone. However, not luxury must be taxed which is
people's property but excess profit which is gained by way of robbing
consumers.
Naira Hayrumyan
18:52 21/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/comments/view/29937
The head of the Public Services Regulatory Commission Robert Nazaryan
told on TV that the gas bills will increase up to 20%, not more. He
also informed that Russia boosted the price of gas on April 1.
A month and a half has passed but only now the government announced
about it. Officials avoid questions on the price of gas. They are
deceiving people. In other words, Serzh Sargsyan has agreed with
Vladimir Putin on the gas price on March 15 when he visited Moscow.
The heads of state agreed not to inform people until the election of
the Council of Elders of Yerevan on May 5 which ended in the `victory'
of Serzh Sargsyan's party.
Government officials, including the minister of energy, claims that
Armenia buys gas from Russia at the cheapest price. It is possible
that gas is not expensive at the border but ARG adds a markup which is
equal to it. So, while it is difficult for the government to persuade
Moscow not to increase the price of gas, the government can and has
the right to control ARG.
Armenia does not have a law on excess profit and markup. Therefore,
neither industries develop, nor imports. Markup on goods imported by
monopolists is sometimes 200-300% of the cost price.
Nothing and nobody is an obstacle to them but lots of countries have a
law on excess profit, and when markup exceeds 15-20%, tax grows. In
some countries tax on 50% markup is 80%. In those countries it is not
profitable to sell goods expensively, whereas in our country it is.
The law on excess profit may limit the appetite of ARG, as well as
most importers, even the Armenian `shuttles' who buy a product for 10
dollars in Turkey and China and sell for 25 dollars in Armenia.
Armenia does not want to cut the income of importers. One year ago the
parliament adopted a `punishment' law - the law on luxury. However,
the bill was `castrated' by the time it was adopted so it is not
applicable to anyone. However, not luxury must be taxed which is
people's property but excess profit which is gained by way of robbing
consumers.
Naira Hayrumyan
18:52 21/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/comments/view/29937