Vahagn Khachatrian, the member of “Alternative” initiative marked in this way Robert Kocharian’s working consultation with tax and customs state bodies.
Tax and Customs systems of Armenia are mentioned in the reports of international organizations as the most corrupted spheres. But it became clear during the consultation on 10 January that those services worked bad, “when we compare our situation with other countries, East Europe, Russia, Ukraine”. Vahagn Khachatrian said on this occasion: “ I’m sure that they even don’t know how people work in East Europe. It would be better to compare the work of tax and customs services “with each other”, comparing with the last year. And if we follow the remarks of international institutions, they pay attention on such issues; there is a qualitative index in the economy. That index isn’t more than 14-14,2%. Even the message of the government alludes to it. The Central Bank has also noted that the ratio remains unchangeable. This means that the state isn’t given the opportunity to implement the strategic project of poverty reduction. This is a barometer that shows the situation of Armenian economy.
The head of the country noted that we had “shadow economy” of large scale and “it is your debt to fight against it. I don’t see enough efforts inside the services for the fight against corruption. There are some improvements but nowadays, it isn’t enough”. In answer to our question, whether he agrees there are some improvements indeed, Vahagn Khachatrian said: “Those persons whom the President has turned, just they are involved in the “shadow” economy. Perhaps the improvement is that some small businessmen have been detected for not paying taxes. We must forget about big “sharks” of the economy. I’m sure there is no “shadow” economy in Armenia. And the authority decides who must stay in shadow and who mustn’t. I’m sure Robert Kocharian is well informed about financial sources.
While speaking of elections 2007, Robert Kocharian has reminded the leadership of tax and customs services that they aren’t politicians and they mustn’t have any connection with the elections. Vardan Khachatrian said on this occasion: “There are in very amusing condition, the official of tax service doesn’t have any right to carry out political activities but after July 1 they can become politicians /when the law “About tax service” enters into force/. It is obvious what party member they’ll become. RPA or “Prosperous Armenia” what’s the difference, both have the same status, which aim to reproduce the current authority and system”.
In general, remarking this consultation, Vahagn Khachatrian said: “ He wanted to remind that Robert Kocharian dictates the rules of the game and nobody else”.