Armenia registers air companies without fees

PanARMENIAN.Net - Air companies in Armenia are registered free of charge, Chairman of Controls Chamber Ishkhan Zakaryan told today a news conference. "Armenia's current legislation does not stipulate for any duties or fees for air company registration," he said.



Armenia has 12 registered air companies, of which 9 operate abroad and 3 - in Armenia. In that connection, Zakaryan noted that registration of such air company might cost $ 382 million in UAE and over $ 1 billion in Britain. According to him, none of companies operating abroad duly paid taxes in 2007-08. Thus, Taron air carrier which exploited 1 airline in 2007 and 4 airlines in 2008 worked without income in the above period and paid no taxes. "Tax payments of those 9 air companies totaled AMD 37.2 billion for 2007-08," he said.



As regards air carriers operating in Armenia, Armavia exploited 7 airlines in 2007 and 8 airlines in 2008 and paid taxes in the amount of AMD 1.3 million. Air Armenian which exploited 5 airlines in 2007-08 paid AMD 212 million, while Armairo which possesses only 1 helicopter paid a total sum of AMD 41.3 million, which exceeds the tax payments of the above-mentioned 9 companies. "There are serious problems in the sphere, so it is necessary to amend the relevant legislation," Zakaryan noted.