Armenian laws are so rapidly “modernized” that businessmen, especially small and medium-sized ones, can hardly follow the “modernizations,” Gagik Makaryan, Director of the Armenian Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (UMBA) stated at a business workshop. He stressed that the websites of some ministries and government institutions are presentational ones and do not contain any information of interest to businessmen.

Referring to a poll, Makaryan pointed out that businessmen are afraid of telling about the real situation in business sectors or of expressing their opinions. Answering a question about pressure on their businesses on the part of government agencies over the past two years, 90% of the respondents said an “official no,” adding that such cases are really frequent, but the businessmen did not want to mention them.

About 60% of small and medium-sized businesses receive necessary information from their accountants or from newspapers, which is evidence of government agencies’ poor work. As regards Armenia’s preparedness for entering the European market, Makaryan said that only 15% product items ensure 80% of Armenian exports.