make preferableYEREVAN. – Armenia’s car importers, who are protesting the relocating of the vehicle customs clearance office from Yerevan to Gyumri, today are holding a protest outside the State Revenue Committee building.
They complain that the new vehicle customs clearance office in Gyumri is not working effectively. "First, why should cars reach Gyumri?" said one of the protesters. “If there is a car importing company (…) in Armenia whose cars are not taken, why should the cars imported by private companies be taken to Gyumri for customs clearance? Second, the system is not ready to take on so much load, to unload, and as a result, our cars are damaged when unloaded. Problems arise [also] with the elementary sanitary-hygienic condition.”
Later, the protesters closed Khorenatsi Street in downtown Yerevan, and traffic there stopped. Police are trying to open the street, but have failed so far.
The exemption granted to Armenia when becoming an EAEU member in 2014 expires on January 1, 2020, and therefore car customs clearance duties will rise several times in the country.
According to this exemption, despite the high customs duties in the EAEU, changes in customs payments had been delayed in Armenia for five years.
The aforesaid car importers also complain about the Gyumri customs clearance office, which has already been put into operation.
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