YEREVAN. – Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party member Artsvik Minasyan, who is recently appointed Minister of Economy of Armenia, supported the tax benefits’ bill, which member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party National Assembly (NA) Faction and Deputy Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, economist Mikayel Melkumyan, had introduced. 

This draft law envisions the lifting of income tax for individual entrepreneurs, in free economic zones.

Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan, however, stated at Thursday’s Cabinet session that free economic zones are first intended for large innovative companies, and not private businesses.

“Equal approach needs to be shown to business,” Minasyan said, for his part. “Due to the absence of such an approach, we [i.e.] have no private entrepreneur in the free economic zones.”

The bill, however, was rejected.