If the Customs Service finds old tires in the car, it confiscates them.
The customs officers who work on the Armenia-Georgia borderline number the tires of the Armenian cars that travel to Georgia. According to the information of www.aravot.am, this new idea of the customs officers aims at easily finding out which citizen of Armenia has ventured to take no notice of them and bring tires from Georgia with him without paying the tariff. The customs officers have found out that some drivers trick them and go to Georgia with bald tires and come back to Armenia with new or relatively new tires.
According to the drivers who are passing the Armenia-Georgia border, in order to reveal the “criminals,” the customs officers secretly number the cars’ tires, so to say, and make the driver face with a fait accompli on the way back.
During a conversation with us, the drivers told that if the Customs Service found old tires in the car, it confiscated them. The officials of the State Revenue Committee (SRC) explain the confiscation of tires with the decision of the government, according to which the entry of dangerous waste into our country was forbidden. According to the list approved by no. 1093 decision of the government, used tires are regarded as dangerous waste, even if they are worn down by 10%.
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The Armenian drivers prefer to bring tires from Georgia, since as they assure, the tires in Georgia are much cheaper – a tire of a not so expensive car worn down by 20%-30% costs $20-$30 there; in Armenia, it costs twice as much. The difference between the prices of a new tire in Georgia and a new tire in Armenia is almost $30.
According to the drivers, these “diligent” revelations of the Customs Service, don’t aim at filling the treasury, but rather removing obstacles in the way of the tire business controlled by one or two people in our country. According to some information, the tire business in Armenia belongs to Serzh Sargsyan’s kindred. www.aravot.am sent a written question to the email of the State Revenue Committee whether the customs officers’ numbering cars and demanding the tariff for tires in use were in accordance with the law. We are waiting for the SRC’s response.
Lusine BUDAGHYAN
