President Serzh Sarkisian has incorporated Armenia’s tax and customs services into the Ministry of Finance and appointed their controversial chief, Gagik Khachatrian, as new finance minister, making him one of the most powerful government officials.
A presidential decree signed late on Wednesday gave no reasons for merging the State Revenue Committee (SRC) with the ministry. Khachatrian was dismissed as head of the SRC and named finance minister on Saturday as part of an ongoing formation of Sarkisian’s new government.
Khachatrian, 58, took over the SRC in 2008 after serving as deputy head of its customs department for seven years. Armenian media reports have for years linked him with a host of lucrative businesses, including a major Internet and cable TV service provider, two food-importing companies, one supermarket, a car dealership and a luxury watch store in Yerevan.
“Haykakan Zhamanak,” Armenia’s best-selling daily critical of the government, claimed in late 2012 that Khachatrian also controls a company that has a legal monopoly on supplying paper for cash registers used by thousands of businesses. Citing that report, the Armenian branch of Transparency International asked a state anti-graft body to determine whether the SRC chief has abused his position to enrich himself. The Commission on the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials cleared Khachatrian of any wrongdoing in April 2013, saying he does not formally own any of those firms.
Khachatrian too has repeatedly denied any involvement in entrepreneurial activity. He claimed shortly after the launch of the corruption inquiry that it is the result of a long-running smear campaign targeting him.
In an annual report released earlier this month, Armenia’s state human rights ombudsman, Karen Andreasian, again charged that tax and customs officials as well as their relatively routinely engage in business and enjoy “illegal advantages over other entrepreneurs.”
“It’s not a secret to anyone that through his relatives [Khachatrian] is actively involved in business,” said Hayk Gevorgian, the chief economics correspondent for “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “Around two dozen big companies belong to him and his relatives. Gagik Khachatrian is one of Armenia’s richest men, if not the richest one.”
“I don’t think that anyone doubts that putting the country’s entire financial resource under his control will have very sad consequences,” Gevorgian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Thursday.
Gevorgian also questioned the wisdom of merging the SRC with the Ministry of Finance, saying that the ministry will no longer be able to serve as a “counterweight” to reputedly corrupt tax authorities. The latter will now themselves set their revenue targets and meet them in an even more arbitrary manner, he claimed.
“I am confident that Mr. Khachatrian’s skills and experience will help us continue the ongoing reforms,” Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian said as he introduced the new finance minister to his staff on Monday.
Improved tax administration was a key declared priority of Armenia’s former Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and his inner circle of liberal reformers, including former Finance Minister Davit Sargsian. One of the reforms initiated by them was the introduction in January 2011 of electronic filing by businesses of financial reports to tax bodies. That was meant to make tax collection less arbitrary.
Many entrepreneurs still privately accuse tax officials of harassing them to extort bribes. But very few of them dare to go public with such allegations.
Gagik Hakobian, one of the owners of the Royal Armenia coffee packaging company, claimed in 2004 to have been offered to engage in a fraud scam with senior customs officials, including Khachatrian. Hakobian was subsequently arrested and sentenced to six years in prison on controversial fraud charges.
A presidential decree signed late on Wednesday gave no reasons for merging the State Revenue Committee (SRC) with the ministry. Khachatrian was dismissed as head of the SRC and named finance minister on Saturday as part of an ongoing formation of Sarkisian’s new government.
Khachatrian, 58, took over the SRC in 2008 after serving as deputy head of its customs department for seven years. Armenian media reports have for years linked him with a host of lucrative businesses, including a major Internet and cable TV service provider, two food-importing companies, one supermarket, a car dealership and a luxury watch store in Yerevan.
“Haykakan Zhamanak,” Armenia’s best-selling daily critical of the government, claimed in late 2012 that Khachatrian also controls a company that has a legal monopoly on supplying paper for cash registers used by thousands of businesses. Citing that report, the Armenian branch of Transparency International asked a state anti-graft body to determine whether the SRC chief has abused his position to enrich himself. The Commission on the Ethics of High-Ranking Officials cleared Khachatrian of any wrongdoing in April 2013, saying he does not formally own any of those firms.
Khachatrian too has repeatedly denied any involvement in entrepreneurial activity. He claimed shortly after the launch of the corruption inquiry that it is the result of a long-running smear campaign targeting him.
In an annual report released earlier this month, Armenia’s state human rights ombudsman, Karen Andreasian, again charged that tax and customs officials as well as their relatively routinely engage in business and enjoy “illegal advantages over other entrepreneurs.”
“It’s not a secret to anyone that through his relatives [Khachatrian] is actively involved in business,” said Hayk Gevorgian, the chief economics correspondent for “Haykakan Zhamanak.” “Around two dozen big companies belong to him and his relatives. Gagik Khachatrian is one of Armenia’s richest men, if not the richest one.”
“I don’t think that anyone doubts that putting the country’s entire financial resource under his control will have very sad consequences,” Gevorgian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Thursday.
Gevorgian also questioned the wisdom of merging the SRC with the Ministry of Finance, saying that the ministry will no longer be able to serve as a “counterweight” to reputedly corrupt tax authorities. The latter will now themselves set their revenue targets and meet them in an even more arbitrary manner, he claimed.
“I am confident that Mr. Khachatrian’s skills and experience will help us continue the ongoing reforms,” Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian said as he introduced the new finance minister to his staff on Monday.
Improved tax administration was a key declared priority of Armenia’s former Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and his inner circle of liberal reformers, including former Finance Minister Davit Sargsian. One of the reforms initiated by them was the introduction in January 2011 of electronic filing by businesses of financial reports to tax bodies. That was meant to make tax collection less arbitrary.
Many entrepreneurs still privately accuse tax officials of harassing them to extort bribes. But very few of them dare to go public with such allegations.
Gagik Hakobian, one of the owners of the Royal Armenia coffee packaging company, claimed in 2004 to have been offered to engage in a fraud scam with senior customs officials, including Khachatrian. Hakobian was subsequently arrested and sentenced to six years in prison on controversial fraud charges.