On December 5, the National Assembly continued its work and adopted all the previously debated bills by voting, including the bill of “2013 State Budget”, 71 voted for and 37 – against. Before the voting PAP member Tigran Urikhanyan informed that the PAP faction is unanimous and hasn’t changed its decision to vote against the bill of “2013 State Budget”.
The parliament debated the project on “Amendments and Additions to the RA Customs Code”, which was presented by Deputy Finance Minister Suren Karayan.
Vice President of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Michael Melkumyan, presenting the endorsement of the Committee, said that the working group, taking into account the concerns voiced by deputies, developed the project.
The endorsement of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs presented Arpine Hovhannisyan.
Then the parliament began debating on a number of tax bills.
National Assembly discussed the ANC’s interpellation, which was presented by Levon Zurabyan. It relates to the elimination of corruption, which is an obstacle for economic development of the country. According to Levon Zurabyan, Armenia is among the most corrupted countries, and the government does not fight against this phenomenon.
Minister of Economy Tigran Davtyan said that the government wrote about twenty-page written reply to that interpellation. In his estimation, there are no monopolies in Armenia, but there is a dominant position in the economy, and it’s about the abuse of a dominant position.
Zurabyan said that even if the government accepts the existence of a dominant position, it is not a fight against it, but against the abuse of a dominant position.
National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan said that the National Assembly will vote for the ANC’s request on next day morning.
