YEREVAN. - Already 60 companies with 250 workers have opened since early 2015 in the framework of tax exemption of IT-start-ups announced by the state, Armenia’s Economy Deputy Minister Emil Tarasyan told Armenian News – NEWS.am.  

The number of those who want to start their own IT business is growing. In the beginning of the year, only rare application on the exemption regime were submitted, that number already reaching dozens now. The decisions on the applications are taken by the state and private council.

Start-ups are also opened by workers of already operating companies, who decided to enter the market on their own with something new. But these are mainly young graduates, the Deputy Minister said.  

They either attempted to do something or received grant via the Innovation Matching Grants program, which is implemented by the Enterprise Incubator Foundation in cooperation with the World Bank.  “Now that they see that the exemptions announced by us work, many of them decide to register and work as enterprises,” he said.

It’s noteworthy that some of these enterprises were started by non-Armenians: some of the founders are from India, France and U.S. (company workers must be residents, while the founders may also be foreigners). There are only 5 such enterprises, which are not large, but any entrance of foreign capital in Armenia’s innovation sphere is very valuable, said Tarasyan.  

“We follow the dynamics of the enterprises. If they stop working temporarily, we don’t cancel the exemptions: They aren’t operating now, but they may operate later,” he said.

The Law on state support to the IT sphere stipulates 0 per cent profit tax and 10 per cent income tax for IT start-ups for three years. The exemptions are applicable for start-ups with a staff not exceeding 15 employees. The aforementioned law will be effective till 2020, the applications being submitted till 2017.