YEREVAN. – Armenia is not a country with tax transparency.

Mark Davis, head of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) office in Armenia, stated the abovementioned at a press conference on Wednesday. 

In his words, if the small and medium-sized enterprises in the country were to show all their earnings, they would not be competitive in the market. Davis said they are afraid that if they show profitability, they would be tracked. 

The EBRD official noted that improving the tax and customs administration is very important to Armenia. As per Mark Davis, this domain needs to be cleaned, and, in this sense, the new Armenian government’s respective intentions are welcomed.

He added, however, that a technical capacity is also needed to clean this domain. Furthermore, time is needed to do all this, since nothing will happen quickly.

As per Mark Davis, this is a matter of institutional changes, a will by the Armenian authorities, and the voters must certainly express their views.

The EBRD official said they are happy that the government is discussing all these matters.