The Armenian government will hold internal discussions with its EAEU partners regarding the customs clearance payments for cars temporarily imported to Armenia from third countries, economy minister Vahan Kerobyan told Sputnik Armenia.

Until the end of the year, the Armenian government will subsidize, by 40-70 percent, the customs clearance charges for cars temporarily imported to Armenia from third countries. At the same time, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had announced that the respective import customs duty in Armenia should be reduced, but the problem is the EAEU regulation in this regard, and therefore Armenia cannot solve this problem unilaterally.

"We will conduct internal discussions on this issue and make decisions accordingly. For example, the decision to exempt cars with electric motors from customs duties was our initiative in the discussions with our EAEU partners," said Kerobyan, recalling the decision adopted by the National Assembly of Armenia by which cars with electric motors have been exempted from VAT and customs duties in Armenia until 2026.

The economy minister emphasized that EAEU is a platform where different countries have equal voting rights, and in the case of issues where the Armenian government sees the need to submit proposals, it does so.

Also, Kerobyan informed that the aforesaid customs clearance payments’ subsidy applies only to those cars that are already in Armenia. As of January 1, 2024, the operation of cars temporarily imported to Armenia from third countries and not cleared by customs will be prohibited in the country.

According to another decision of the Armenian government, as of January 1, 2024, Armenian citizens must pay money to a deposit account managed by the Armenian customs agency for cars imported for temporary use from Georgia or a country that is not a member in the EAEU. At the moment, there are 9,000 cars imported for temporary use in Armenia.