“It is called a Robin Hood tax: taking from the big and giving to the small”, said economist Vilen Khachatryan in conversation with Aravot.am, referring to Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan’s statement that the Government will pay only the difference of the amounts of the electricity price hike for the population. According to him, it should be perceived that the population will not have any benefit at all if the electricity price hike impacts on the big business. This does not mean that the population will not pay for it. “The same big business will not do it at the expense of its profit. The big business will kindly increase the prices, will kindly increase the cost of its services, and then we will come to a conclusion that again the ordinary citizens are going to pay for any electricity for the big companies. In other words, if it occurs for someone, it naturally moves onto the citizens.”
Vilen Khachatryan opines that we need to expect for the next wave of price hikes. “For few days, I was talking to the director of a bakery, who was saying, “I am paying 300 thousand drams for the electricity.” This man will automatically fall under it. And his small and medium-sized businesses, where 4-5 people are working, will appear in the similar challenges. And he will have to increase the price of the bread and unleavened bread to compensate these expenses. Because he has spent more expensive for the electricity and the cost for his services and the products cannot remain the same. And naturally, it will lead to a wave of price hikes.”
Ami CHICHAKYAN
